While We Were Sleeping
by Juggsauce
Summary: A mysterious voice brings Eren to question his sanity amidst his own kidnapping. He must decide how he can best defend man kind and shifters alike in the face of the true enemy.
1. 1 Unset

**Please read this before the story!**

This story begins between ch 51 and 52 and will inevitably deviate more and more from the canon story. I did my best to tie it into the events thus far in the series (55) without contradicting anything. I do recommend brushing up on those chapters, it will make it easier to follow along. If you aren't really feeling the first chapter, give the second one a shot because it represents the pacing and style of the story much better than the first. Enjoy!

* * *

'…Sleep…'

'Yeah…'

'Such a counter-productive duality… So obtrusive, yet necessary, inviting even.'

Eren stared at the grains and splinters lining the support beam above his cot. He missed sleeping amongst his friends, sleeping alone was new to him. Three years in the barracks brought him comfort in the symphony of snores and mutterings. All Eren had now was his thoughts and the occasional sounds emanating throughout the house. So very tired, but how could he sleep like this?

'Titans don't need it, why do I? Sleep is such a dire loss of precious time, let alone hiding out here. Sitting and waiting, in the middle of nowhere, while a war rages out there. What if Reiner, Berthold, and Ymir breach Wall Rose while we're out here hiding? They'd surely free Annie and get away before the news would even make it to us…

While his body was happy to assume an idle state, Eren's mind was thrilled to take advantage of the new found, albeit strange, serenity. For the proceeding hour he contemplated what happened on that field days ago. He replayed the events over and over, wondering what triggered this new control over the titans. All he remembered was how badly he wanted - intended - to destroy that bastard. To tear that grinning savage apart, piece by piece.

"Maybe it takes more than a desire."

Eren's eyes opened to meet nothing but darkness, yet it was somehow familiar...

"Who's there?" He asked.

"Maybe the trigger is something greater than determination; maybe lives have to be at stake."

The voice wasn't familiar, nor did it seem to come from any particular direction. Eren couldn't even describe it. It had no particular tone, accent, or even gender. He decided to stand up, but, he found himself already upright. It was as if he was on his feet as soon as he willed it.

"I'm dreaming." He concluded.

"Sure, why not? With that revelation out of the way, we can focus on this new ability."

"Dream or not, I don't know how I feel about having a conversation with… well, myself." Eren pondered aloud.

"Do you want to be in full control of yourself or not? Dreams don't last forever, you know..."

Eren decided that he was talking to his subconscious self. It didn't really matter why, after all, discovering new things about himself was becoming an ongoing theme. It couldn't hurt to see what this strange voice had to say.

"Alright, that seems like a reasonable theory, so what now?" Said Eren.

"Not much really, you already know which emotions swam through you at the time. I'm afraid that we're at a dead end until the next contact with titans. But what you can do is make the best of your opportunity while you're stuck out here."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Do they not plan to experiment on your titan form out here in the forest?"

"You mean monster." He replied in disgust.

"Whatever you decide to call it, the other titan shifters have obviously spent more time mastering their abilities. If you plan on taking them on, I'd say it would behoove you to learn what you can before that day comes."

"Since when have I thought so critically?"

"You?"

* * *

"Welcome back."

"Shit." Said Eren.

"Shit?"

"So I guess this is a thing now? You won't be going away?"

"I could leave you to your normal nightmares if you'd like. You may not remember them, but I do, and I really don't want to-"

Eren's sigh interrupted his mental passenger, "Alright, fine."

"I see you're getting better with your control while transformed."

"What are you talking about? I couldn't maintain coherence for more than an hour! Annie was able to maintain her form, consciousness, and stamina for the better portion of a whole day! She even transformed twice!"

Annie… Eren felt that familiar pain in his chest, he couldn't get her out of his head.

'I bet she holds the answers to a lot of this. I just want to know wh...'

Eren's wandering mind was dragged back on track with the reply:

"That will come with practice. Don't you want to put work into it and get stronger?"

"What makes you speak as if you know that?"

"What makes you doubt it? Haven't your doubts killed enough people you love? You've only ever been strong after you let situations escalate out of control! Don't you want to change that, Eren?"

Dizzy. Sure enough, thoughts he had buried over and over had come to haunt him yet again. All he could feel was dizziness. His eyes showed him the familiar dreamscape, the 'void', as he had taken to calling it. Yeah, it was all there, calm and still, yet violently spinning. If a person had said that to him, he'd be angry. But this was different, this was coming from his own mind. The one he never trusted was himself. Suddenly there was clarity: This voice, this... person, was his biggest enemy. It was himself.

Eren took a deep breath and closed his eyes, he needed to take control. He decided that nothing was spinning, and when he opened his eyes the sensation would vanish. Sure enough, he found himself still as his eyelids drew open. 'Easy enough.' The boy thought. He took a second breath and addressed the passenger:

"Alright asshole, lets figure this out."

"Good. No doubt, Hanji and the others will debrief you about the experiments when you wake up. Lets put our brain power to better use."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"That village. Something turned all of the people in that village into titans."

"That's what Hanji was saying, it matches her theory of all titans being former humans. What would make something like that happen?"

"Well, let's think about it. What are the biggest questions about everything that has happened the past 5 years?"

"Um… I guess, what could be worth causing the slaughter of so many people just to find me?" Eren concluded.

"Alright. So, we know that Berthold, Reiner, and Annie come from a place outside the walls."

"Apparently."

"And there seems to be something out there that can turn people into titans."

"It seems that way, yes." He agreed.

"Maybe they need your ability to control titans to protect themselves."

"Bullshit."

"...Elaborate?"

"How could anyone justify wiping out twenty percent of the human race in hopes of finding me? What if Hannes didn't show up that day? What would it have gotten them if I had died? There is no way they could have known for sure that I would survive!"

Eren suddenly felt intense heat and moisture, and the smell of standard military rations filled his nose. He had aggravated himself awake.

* * *

"Eren! Keep up!" Mikasa said sternly under her breath.

Briefly, he snapped out of his thoughts and closed the distance between him and his friends. If he had to guess, there was still an hour of walking left before him and Historia were to detach from the group at the cabin just outside of Trost.

"Sorry." He replied, upon rejoining the formation.

"We've been worried about you lately, more than usual at least..." Mikasa quipped, in her usual demeanor, to the point and borderline scolding. He liked to imagine her reading out a sentence to a criminal when she spoke.

"Yeah, Eren, it's like your mind has been elsewhere lately." Added Armin.

'Was it so obvious? I've been keeping up on everything...' He thought. 'Maybe two mysteries are too much for me to handle.'

'Maybe you just need to control your anger so we can finish our discussions...'

'That voice… Shit, It's not just my dreams anymore. I'm really fucking crazy!' He thought.

'Perhaps. But I'd call it an advantage, two minds are better than one, you know.'

'Talking to the voices in my head doesn't grant me two brains to think wi...'

"Eren! Are you hearing us?!" Mikasa said, jabbing him in the side.

"I… I'm sorry. I guess all these new developments have weighed heavy lately. I couldn't make my titan form harden and I've been trying to think of other options ever since. It feels like politics are the least effective route, given what's at stake."

"I know," Said Armin. "It seems like a waste of time, but that wall cult and the royal family are keeping things from everyone. Information that could help us gain the upper hand in this fight."

"Yeah," Eren conceded with a sigh. "I guess I just feel useless right now. For some reason I have this ability that can help humanity. Yet, all it's good for right now is the potential for my third kidnapping."

"I think you're just pissed that you can't solve humanity's problems by putting yourself and others in danger, for once." Chimed Jean.

Jean... that asshole. Eren was ready to retort, but as usual, Jean had a point, shitty social notwithstanding. The Scout Regiment's moves have been relatively straightforward until now. This political approach didn't exactly utilize any of Eren's strengths. The biggest role he was to play in this plan was being the bait. He learned the hard way that he needed to take matters into his own hands to spare the lives of people he cared about. But that wasn't an option this time, this made him uneasy.

'Awww, a plan that doesn't revolve around you. What will you do with yourself?' The voice teased.

'Oh Fuck off.'

* * *

"...I guess you seem normal, now. Like a stupidly honest, regular person." Eren finished.

With that, Historia's lips twitched out a half smile before returning to a frown, she turned to the window. Eren briefly pondered what she could be thinking about, before he withdrew and laid his head on the table. The only thing for them to do was wait and see if Armin and Jean were taken as bait.

'Seems like a good time for us to pick up where we left off.'

'I miss having my head all to myself' He thought.

'Nonsense, plenty of room in here... So, before you jolted yourself awake before, we were discussing motives. Luckily, that won't be a problem now, you're already awake.'

'I don't have any ideas, and I'll tell you why: There is no cause that makes genocide justifiable.'

'Do you really believe that? That those three shifters inserted themselves undercover for years just to exterminate people who keep away from the outside world? Think! Use some logic for once, consider circumstances that aren't drawn from your own experiences!'

'Think about what!? Who's fucking side are you on? I'm done with this game, it doesn't matter what the enemy's motives are. It's not like we can find common ground with murderers! I'm tired of you clouding my head with things that don't help anyone! You can't explain evil, I'm done listening to you. I GIVE UP!'

'I don't need you to give up, I need you to learn!'

'...A… Annie...'

Silence.

'No. NO!' Eren screamed. 'How are you doing this?! You don't get to reveal yourself and disappear! ANNIE!'

"Eren… What the…" Historia began, eyes wide and mouth agape.

Lost in his anger, the boy had completely forgotten about the girl in the room with him. It took every ounce of willpower for Eren to keep calm as he answered her:

"What?" He asked, clearly annoyed but civilized nonetheless.

"Your... your eyes. They're glowing…" The girl replied fearfully.

His eyes, indeed, emitted a red glow, faint traces of steam billowed from them as they seemed to burn like hot coals. But Eren could only offer her a confused expression, he couldn't feel any of it. As confusion supplanted his anger, Historia watched his eyes return to a normal state.

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked, reaching for her forehead with the back of his hand. But the girl scrambled back before any contact was made. "Whoa, hey… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have tried to do that… But, I think you should lie down, you don't look so good."

"Y-Yeah…" She shakily replied. "I must be ill… Sorry Eren."

As he watched the girl make her way to the bed at the corner of the room, Eren couldn't help but wonder what was going on with her. The whole exchange was enough to briefly take his mind off his own mental state… Briefly.


	2. 2 Revelations

"From now on, because of that… we might have to take the lives of others. We're not good guys anymore." Armin finished as he weakly lifted himself up and made his way toward the barracks.

"Well, on that uplifting note, I think I'll call it a night too." Said Jean

One by one, everyone sans Mikasa and Eren dispersed. Mikasa studied the boy, why couldn't she read him lately? She knew his mind was on something, but what? What would he need to keep from everyone? What would he need to keep from her?

Something lightly grasped her shoulder, Eren's hand. "Lets get some sleep." He mumbled as he stood up and walked toward the doorway.

"I miss Eren…" She called after him.

Eren stopped for a moment, looking back at her with apologetic eyes, and then to the floor. "I'm in here somewhere." He said with a half smile, pointing at his head. She wasn't amused, but inquired no further, so he proceeded to his basement.

Upon closing his door, Eren eased into bed and brought his eyes to the ceiling. He played with his basement key, running his fingers along all the dents and scratches accumulated from the years of training and battle. He briefly thought about how fortunate he had been to not lose it amidst the chaos of late. It wasn't as if he would have noticed it being torn away in the middle of a life-or-death situation. But, it wasn't long before his mind made it's way back to what never left his thoughts.

'Annie... Why?'

Silence. He heard no voice, not even that ghostly presence since he had figured it out. Or had she deliberately given herself away?

'You only left me with more questions than I already had for you. If your mission was to erode my sanity then call it a success. I've tried to play the devil's advocate with you. I couldn't believe that you would do such things, kill so many good people for your own gain. I guess I let my feelings get in the way... It hurts, Annie. Only Armin and myself ever saw the good in you but you threw us away. You threw humanity away... It wasn't enough for you to defeat me somatically, you had to push your crusade to a mental frontier as well.

His eyes watered a bit. Never had he been this betrayed by someone he respected so much. Not even Reiner's identity shocked him like she did. She was the embodiment of all the traits he admired, traits that he most needed. She knew how and when to use restraint, her emotions were so very well controlled that most of the other 104th trainees fostered doubts of her very humanity. But Eren was never fooled, he saw through her defenses when they fought and appreciated who she really was. But maybe it was everyone else who saw the writing on the wall.

Eren turned his attention back to his key. Anything to distract himself long enough to fall asleep. He thought about how much better things would become once he could unlock the secrets in that basement. His father, wherever he was, surely left something that could change this fight.

This thought put him at ease. Not long after, his body relaxed enough to drift asleep.

* * *

"I'm here"

"Annie… How are you doing this?"

"Oh, you don't have an 'I will kill everyone of you' speech prepared? I thought I was speaking to the Suicidal Bastard..."

"You're no longer a threat sealed up underground. I could scream at you until I bleed, or I could learn what everyone in the Scout Regimen want to know."

"How do you think they'll react when you tell them who you've been having late night chats with, and your means to do it?"

"I'll cross that bridge when i get that far. I'll ask you again, how are you doing this?"

"Staying on track, I'm impressed. I felt you the second you revealed yourself as the Coordinate, every shifter did. I've trained since I was a child to communicate this way."

"Coordinate… You mean when I commanded those titans? How many others can see into my mind like this?"

"You're in possession of the most powerful ability among titan shifters, and you have more dormant abilities than you're aware of. When you used it for the first time, every shifter on the planet was alerted to it, along with the location of the event. That is the drawback of it, every time you use it you'll give away your position to everyone. As we speak, there are shifters headed for the location you last used the ability. It's unlikely that anyone else has trained to link minds with you, the last known coordinate died 100 years ago shortly after the walls were built. But I can teach you how to defend your mind once we get you safely to Arrah."

"What… Arrah? How can you take me anywhere? You're locked up underground aren't you?"

"Arrah is where we come from, that's all I can tell you. I haven't been responding because Berthold and Reiner have been helping me escape Wall Rose."

"No... NO! You're not going to do it again. I've already escaped from those two traitors, it isn't happening again!"

"Eren, it's already done."

"What?! Bullshit!"

"You are en route to the rendezvous right now..."

"..."

* * *

So much wind...

'Why can't I move?' Eren thought.

Between his shoulders and feet Eren could barely even twitch, and... it was hot, very hot. His body was drenched in sweat, it was a painful heat. Also, he could feel he was moving very quickly. His head was exposed to powerful, unrelenting wind. Even the fastest horse couldn't generate so much wind resistance. As his eye's began to clear and adjust to the dark of night, it dawned on him: his bindings were organic. Gripping him tightly was the hand of a 15-meter class titan. But who?

"Annie?" He called.

No answer.

He tried to get his bearing, surveying his surroundings. They were blasting through what appeared to be open plains. The moonlight offered him only fragmented insight to his whereabouts. He couldn't see the lights that villages or establishments typically gave off in any direction. He turned his attention to his captor. The titan gripped him in its right hand, held against the left shoulder. Eren speculated that holding him that way was for his benefit, as opposed to swinging him back and forth as it ran.

'A kidnapper with manners... Beats riding in Annie's mouth, I guess.' He thought, half chuckling as he tried to bury his fear and uncertainty.

Eren peered at the titan's face. White hair, about shoulder-length, made it hard to distinguish any details. But it was clearly female, but where did she come from? How did she get Eren out of the basement? Was anyone hurt or was it a clean extraction? He began to worry about his friends he was being torn from… again.

He set aside his worries for the moment and continued to study his abductor. This was definitely an experienced shifter, she moved with a precision that reminded him of Annie's form. But her features were different… She was armored, with exposed skin at her joints for movement. But, unlike Reiner, her plating appeared black and smooth. The moonlight reflected off her plating at certain angles, it was quite a light show as they tore through the night. Peering at her face didn't offer much detail from where he was. But, he could see that she lacked armor on her head and face.

'I hope she isn't as skilled at hand-to-hand combat as Annie' He thought, unsure if he could take down a permanently armored titan with such that degree of fighting skills.

Eren decided that he couldn't expect too many answers along those lines yet. Instead, he decided to focus on something that that could lend him more insight than blindly speculating in the dark.

'If Annie can get into my thoughts, there must be a way for me to see hers...' He thought as he began to clear his mind.

Mikasa had once taught him to meditate while they were trainees. He didn't find it very useful at the time, but he thought it could facilitate such an endeavor. It wasn't easy, the mystery shifter only made their movement as smooth as her blistering speed could allow. But, Eren managed to clear his thoughts enough to focus. He beamed his attention to things that were unfamiliar, even foreign, in his conscience. He concentrated on where her presence seemed to come from when she would speak. But there was nothing.

'Hmm,' He pondered. 'What if…'

He imagined himself in the dreamscape where they spoke in his sleep. He inspected the usual source of her speech, but still there was nothing… He started to walk in that direction, very little seemed to change, but he pressed on. A few minutes passed, still nothing. Not until he was ready to try something else did he see it: A dim light. As Eren approached, the light grew and became brighter. He started to run, the object grew brighter and larger as he drew closer. But the colors... They changed and moved, what was this? Soon he realized it was an image, but a moving image? He couldn't get there fast enough, he pushed to a full sprint, propelling himself as fast as his mind could imagine. What he saw when he arrived at the source didn't register immediately.

He could see a fire burning, in a furnace. Below and surrounding it was a wooden floor, the flames danced and flickered, dispelling an amber aura throughout the room. A room? Suddenly a hand moved across his line of sight and brushed something aside that was partially blocking his view of the right side of room.

Hair... Eren was seeing through Annie's eyes. Before the realization could set in, the image vanished.

'What…'

'I'm impressed, Eren.' A familiar voice boomed.

'Annie. Where are you?'

'We're waiting for you, you're almost here.'

'Almost where? And who is this titan?!'

'Patience, Eren.'

* * *

The mysterious female titan began to slow down, but her grip remained firm. She clearly wasn't interested in giving Eren the opportunity to transform, at least not until he would be outnumbered. The moonlight outlined the roofline of a small cottage, meaning they were obviously still inside Wall Maria. Through the open front door, the furnace inside dimly lit three figures on the porch. Reiner and Berthold stood at the edge of three steps while Annie leaned against a support beam. They began to approach as his captor came to a stop a few meters from the cottage. She carefully lowered him down while sharply scanning their surroundings for threats. As his feet touched the ground, her digits unravelled swiftly.

"Cold, damn!" He remarked as the outside air made first contact with his skin in hours.

"Yeah, travelling by titan comes with it's perks." Reiner joked as he handed Eren what looked like clothing.

"What is this?" Eren asked, reluctantly taking the offering.

"It's the uniform worn by Warriors of our village, I think you'll find it warmer than your night clothes out here." replied Reiner.

"From Arrah..." Eren muttered, inspecting the garments.

This took Reiner by surprise, his face briefly displayed a look of shock before quickly returning to his usual, confident demeanor.

"Yes" Reiner replied, as he shot a quick glare toward Annie.

Eren turned his attention to her as well. She paid him no regard at all, wearing her usual, detached expression, blue eyes cast vaguely to the distance. She wasn't going to look him in the eye without an invitation. Instead, Eren began walking toward the cabin door.

"What the... Hey!" Reiner yelled, confused. "What the hell are you doing?"

Eren stopped only long enough to glance over his shoulder and say: "You're all going to convince me why I should cooperate and follow you to Arrah. Why I should abandon my friends and comrades and trust you."

"Eren! What's wrong with you? There's no time for that now, it's not safe out here. We need to keep moving!" Reiner called after him, losing patience.

Without flinching, as he crossed through the threshold and inside, Eren called back: "You'd better get in here then."

As Eren set the clothing on the lone table inside and pulled up a chair, everyone couldn't help but wonder who they were looking at. Even Annie's eyes were drawn his way, what set about this side of Eren? She decided to take a look for herself. Closing her eyes, focusing, what she stepped into seemed foreign, contrast to the ambience experienced on the prior occasion she 'visited'. With a force that shook her bones, she was cast out, disconnected. She opened her eyes as a tremor reverberated through her body. Before she could speak a word, a voice boomed.

'NO GAMES.'

While she didn't catch any of his thoughts, she knew without a doubt that Eren's anger raged inside. But when self control become a trait of Eren Yeager? This wasn't the boy who would ignite in the absence of sparks, at least not at that moment. As intrigued as she was, Annie knew, above all else, their plans would need to adapt.

Seeing such a reaction from Annie, of all people, made Reiner and Berthold very uneasy. Just as they were about to ask, blue eyes darted in their direction.

"He's… He's figured out how to block me out, on his own. You two need to get in there and pull your weight for once."

"I think we could use you in there, Annie." Berthold replied, with an uneasiness in his voice.

"He's furious. Composed, but furious nonetheless. Play by his rules if you have to, but if I go in there he may vent his rage in a way we are all familiar with." Annie retorted.

The two young men looked at each other and, after a few seconds, nodded before walking into the cabin, shutting the door behind them.

With that, Annie turned her attention to the quiet shifter above.

"Are you gassed?" She asked.

The looming figure's dark eyes met hers and gazed a moment. The titan shook its head and resumed surveying the surroundings.

"Let me know when you need to rest, I'm next in the rotation."

Annie received a slight nod in response. She walked back and sat on the porch, the girl released a strong sigh as she peered up to the stars.

* * *

A/N: With the first chapter tying this alternate storyline into the manga, I was able to make things much smoother as the plot unfolded. Hopefully you guys like it, thanks for reading!


	3. 3 Detox

Three young men sat at the table, locked in a silent spectacle of emotions. After about a minute, Reiner finally spoke.

"There is more at stake here than..."

"NO!" Eren barked, "I want Berthold to speak."

Berthold and Reiner exchanged confused looks. Why Berthold? What does it matter who explains the same situation?

"Eren," Berthold began, with unease. "why me? Reiner is better with words, with helping people understand things, you know that."

Awaiting a reply, he peered at the captee, two pools of fiery glass continued to stab him from all angles. This was different, never had they seen Eren in a state of such profound fury. Yet, the young man remained poised and focused, completely in control of himself.

"Exactly, Reiner is the very best person out here when it comes to persuasiveness. But you... You're the only person I've known who displays almost no convictions whatsoever. You follow Reiner around like a lost child. You never go against the grain, you just float and follow, that's it. If you truly believe that what you all have done is for a noble cause, then you will make me understand. Make it make sense, Berthold. If an action is honorable...justifiable, then skillful representation is not needed.

Berthold and Reiner were stunned. But, Eren was correct, and they knew it.

"We have the same enemies, Eren." Berthold began. "You weren't there, at Castle Utgard, but the others saw it... There are titans with intelligence. They are rare, but they are the most dangerous creatures that walk the Earth. They are easily identified from regular titans and shifters. They are covered in fur, like a wild animal, and they typically range between 17 and 25 meters in height. But their size is not what makes them dangerous, they have an ability..."

Berthold paused to gather himself, something clearly haunted him. With a deep breath, he regained his composure and continued as Eren raised an eyebrow.

"They created titans, they're the source. They are the reason that humans are trapped within these walls."

Eren's expression changed, his intensity remained but the defiance in his eyes gave way to equally fierce interest.

"How?" Eren asked quietly.

"No one knows, they just... with only a thought, they somehow transform humans into titans. It doesn't matter how many, if they can see anyone who isn't a shifter, they can turn them. They don't always do it, but if it serves to benefit them, they think nothing of it. They speak our language and can communicate, but have never revealed their ultimate intentions. Much like the titans they spawn, the only clues point to blood lust. They don't identify themselves with names or titles, so Warriors of Arrah just call them imps."

Eren lost himself in thought for a moment, but then his face showed anger once again.

"So you attacked the walls and wiped all those people out on the chance that one of those things found us?! Did it ever occur to you to warn us instead? You took it upon yourself to decide the fate of an entire race! What cou..."

"Eren!" Berthold yelled, a spectacle that stopped Eren in his tracks. "It's not that simple. Until 5 years ago, the royal family and church kept us from warning the population. They've always kept their people in the dark about shifters and imps. They believe that public knowledge of it would weaken their power."

"How" Eren began, this time with subdued rage and growing confusion. "did they stop you from warning anyone? What could they leverage against a legion of shifters?"

"They had us believe that they had the Coordinate under their control. The man who built the walls was a Coordinate who died shortly after they were finished. The church made it appear that his bloodline continued, and thus, the gift was carried on. They warned us that they would use that power to destroy us if we interfered. Three days before the first attack, you were identified as a potential coordinate. This showed us that the officials had been bluffing all along. There can only be one Coordinate at any given time, the existence of a potential Coordinate indicates that no others exist. Messengers were sent to Arrah to deliver the news, but one of them was accosted by an imp. That imp, learning of the potential Coordinate, headed for Wall Maria. Those messengers were Reiner, my brother Isaac, and myself. We discovered Isaac after we had lagged behind, before he died, he warned us what had happened. We were children, Eren, but we had to make a decision. If we didn't do something, the imp would have killed you and begun to turning every living person within the walls into an army of titans. By sacrificing the outer wall, we were able to drive everyone who wasn't eaten away from the imp. This bought us enough time to rally enough shifters and destroy the imp. 14 of them gave their lives in the effort. Reiner and I... we made a decision that weighs on us to this day. I'm sorry about what happened to your mother, I'm sorry about each and every drop of blood on my hands. But we don't have the luxury to mourn, we serve the greater good, even if the results wear the thick blood of sacrifice."

"But... then what happened to make you attack Wall Rose?" Eren asked.

"I'm sorry, but we were never given the reasons behind those orders. We were simply told to begin the exact same assault as on Wall Maria, except to cease the operation when you shifted for the first time. The same goes for the reason we were told not to interfere until you exposed yourself as one of our own. That isn't what you want to hear right now, I can understand that, but the answer awaits us all when we get there."

Eren was puzzled, irritated, and tired. He didn't know how to feel. If what he had listened to was true, his whole perspective on good and evil had just became obsolete. He thought about the possibility of it being a ruse. He could demand proof or evidence, but what could they provide, and how would he verify anything? No, that wouldn't do any good here. Nonetheless, he still had a few questions left to be answered.

"How many more soldiers were killed to get me here?" He asked, not entirely ready for what the answer might be.

"None, it was a clean pull." Berthold answered without hesitation.

"How could you know? Your friend out there hasn't exactly been debriefed."

"You wouldn't be here yet if it couldn't be done without harm to them."

"How are you so concerned with casualties all of the sudden?" Eren snarled.

"Because I made the decision." Reiner chimed in "Our initial orders were overbearingly specific in how he needed to go about extracting you. When they resulted in unsuccessful bloodbaths, I was able to secure commanding control of the mission. This gave me the ability to plan a safe operation that minimized the risk for everyone."

Eren wasn't fully satisfied with the answer, but he could somehow tell that it was honest.

"I have a final question." Eren said, easing his chair backward and standing up. "Are the people I've been taken from going to be safe without me?"

Berthold looked at the table briefly before meeting Eren's gaze.

"I can't guarantee that, Eren. But I can tell you what I know. You will be in a better position to help everyone you care about if you come with us and learn to control your gift. The church wants to use you for their own gains, but we need you for our survival. Wherever you go, danger will follow until you're strong enough to put an end to it. Anything else I can't pretend to know."

Eren closed his eyes and tilted his head rearward. Seconds felt like minutes to the other two young men, but to Eren, time would never wait. A minute passed and he lowered his head and opened his eyes.

* * *

The stars were a sight that Annie rarely appreciated. But on this night they stood out to her. Despite the situation unfolding behind her, the risk of a titan encounter, and the journey ahead of them, she found a moment of peace under a sea of lights. Her face felt strange, she was smiling. And just like that, the moment had come and gone. She wasn't meant to smile. Smiling was for people with goodness in them. Smiling was for people who deserved to be happy. A smile couldn't fit the face of a killer. She couldn't allow herself that which she didn't deserve.

The cabin door creaked open, spilling the orange glow onto Annie's back. She turned to meet who loomed behind her. First Reiner, who proceeded past her and down the steps. Next was Berthold, who stopped to acknowledge her with a half smile before following Reiner's path. Eren stopped next to her on the porch, neither ignoring her or returning her eye contact. Nothing needed to be said, he was wearing the Arrai uniform given to him, he had made his choice.

"So how do we proceed from here?" Eren asked.

"We start now," Annie replied. "We're behind schedule thanks to your hissy fit."

Eren let out a semi sincere chuckle.

"If I was unwilling; sure, you'd likely still get me there, but I promise that the journey would be anything but timely."

Annie considered a retort, but he wasn't wrong. The two of them descended the steps and joined Reiner and Berthold.

* * *

A/N: Kind of a short chapter this time because it just flows better with this part on its own. Thank you guys so much for the follows and reviews, it keeps me writing!


	4. 4 Unknown

As he approached, Eren felt a barrier. He opened his eyes, from his peripheral he could see Annie glance over at him. She knew what he had just done, she had assumed the defensive from the moment he discovered how to find her. He wanted to know her, but he knew that nobody had ever gotten that far. But that wasn't what bothered him, he had long accepted her reluctance of letting other people in. What hurt was that he knew that she hid something beautiful from the world. Eren hated that he had ever figured it out, it wasn't something a person could willfully forget. Apathy was all that anyone else could see in her, but Eren saw a tortured soul.

As he began to withdraw, he felt the barrier slip away. He opened his eyes again to find her looking directly into them. Somewhat startled, he noted her expression; her standard, detached demeanor was masking something else. It was subtle, but he could see her genuine interest in whatever he came to say. He accepted her invitation as he closed his eyes.

'Welcome back.' She thought.

This time he heard her actual voice in his head, instead of the hollow shell he had reluctantly grown accustomed to. He knew this was merely because he knew it was her now, but it still felt like another wall had crumbled between them.

'I'd apologize, but can you blame me?' He replied.

'Not really… What has bothered us most is the way you've changed.'

'Changed? How?'

'It's like you learned to control yourself overnight… People rarely undergo changes like that over a lifetime, let alone days.'

'I didn't really think about it until now.' He answered.

'How could you not notice a change like that in yourself?' Demanded Annie.

'It just kind of happened, I guess. I realized that I am alone out here, for once in my life I have to rely solely on myself for survival. I don't have Mikasa to watch my back anymore, so I have to control myself now. I don't have Armin to come up with a plan in a bind anymore, so I have to think things through on my own. Even Jean, without someone willing to say what I don't want to hear, I have to be willing to consider the worst possible outcome of everything. I can't fill the shoes of my friends, but I must do my best. I must survive and master this power if I ever want to see my friends again. I still want to destroy every last titan on this world, just as badly as I ever have. But I have a responsibility now. Revenge is not my sole source of fuel, I will use everything at my disposal to protect humanity.'

Annie understood what he meant by being alone. She would feel the same way in his position, she felt the same way always. But somehow, it still hurt to hear it from him.

'I see.'

'You're in pain, Annie.'

'What?' The girl demanded, almost forgetting to stifle the surprise in her voice.

'Not just right now, but always. I don't think anyone else can see it, so don't worry. You're strong, Annie, you carry it well, but I can see that it's an immense weight.'

Annie paused momentarily before she spoke.

'So what then, are you here to save me from myself then?' She barked, liberal on the venom.

'Nope.' Eren replied, unfazed. 'Whatever the reason, it's your decision to let no one in. You'll likely take your true identity to the grave, that's how strong you are. It's not my place to tell you how to live. This is just me saying that I can see you.'

Neither of them said anything else. A tremor ran through them, Eren looked back. He saw what looked like a two-meter-high fence fading as they continued through the night.

'Must've jumped.' He thought to himself.

He took a moment to admire the ingenuity of the harness he was wearing. Leather bindings similar to those on the 3D Maneuvering gear harness secured him firmly to the main two straps. There was a clever buckle across his chest that the others had instructed him to pull in the event of emergency egress. The main two straps were secured around the circumference of the armored female's neck. Him and Annie were harnessed on the left side of her neck while Berthold and Reiner were on the right. They all sat on their respective shoulder while the harnesses offered stability as the titan moved about. It gave Eren a certain uneasiness to be oriented to the side as they traveled. But, it didn't really matter. He just gazed at the moon as they made their way onward.

* * *

Eren's eyes were irradiated by dawn's amber warmth rather rudely. Why did his head hurt so badly, and what lumpy mess was he lying on? As he drew his head up to investigate, his heart sank. He was still attached to the harness they had been riding in, but it was on the ground. Berthold, Reiner, and Annie all lied motionless, still attached as well. Eren quickly reached over and checked Annie's pulse.

'Good, alive.' He thought, as he unstrapped himself from his harness.

He scrambled up so that he could check Berthold and Reiner, who were lying face-down just outside arms reach. Both of them were alive as well. Eren shifted his focus to his surroundings; tall grass and very few trees. The grass offered good cover, it was around one meter tall, he began to stand up to peer over it.

'Now where's…..' Before he could finish the thought, he saw it.

50 meters away, it looked like at 10 titans, all converged around something. Four 15-meters, three 7-meters, and three 3-meters. Wait, one of the 15-meter types was...

'The armored female!' Eren thought.

He looked down at the others, but they were each still unconscious. Without another thought, Eren brought his hand to his mouth. It was up to him to help her. But, before he could bite into his flesh, a thunderous crack erupted from amidst the mesh of giants. Each of the titans were ejected from their prey as they followed the shockwave from the center. At ground zero, the armored female stood for a moment, her eyes fixated on Eren. This shocked him, why had she allowed them all to attack if she was capable of that? Then it hit him:

'She was distracting them all until one of us woke up' He thought.

Of course! In order to dispatch her attackers, she'd have to take her eyes off of everyone and leave them vulnerable to attack. She used herself as bait until someone woke up and could protect the others if need be. As if to confirm Eren's conclusion, the armored female promptly lowered her stance and turned attention to the nearest titan. The first one to recover was a 7-meter type, it was limping but still approached with a quickness. She swiftly swung her leg around, taking the attacker's limbs from beneath and sending it's upper half violently downward. Before it's head could hit the ground, her elbow had merged with it's neck. They both met the ground with a force that completely severed the titan's head and destroyed the neck, nape and all. Before the tremors of the impact made their way through Eren's legs, the armored female had bounced back to her feet just as two of the 15-meter types converged on her.

She swiftly danced around the nearest titan, sending it into a collision with the other. Just as they both recoiled from the impact, her hands were firmly latched onto the napes of their necks. Next, she leapt from the ground, placed a foot on each titan's rib cage, and tore both napes out with explosive force. Steaming blood shot out in a visual fanfare as she descended onto an approaching 3-meter type, stomping its entire face and neck into the ground with the heel of her right foot. Her left foot only met the ground long enough for her to launch into the air once more, toward the remaining two 3-meter types. With the same precision as before, her right foot laid waste to another head and neck. As she settled into her landing, her left leg swung around to meet the last 3-meter type. The titan's upper half turned completely to fine red mist and steam as it met her shin.

Eren could only stare in awe as he watched her dispatch her attackers. He had never seen another shifter defend itself with such finesse, such efficiency. Each and every blow was final, there was no fight here, only a slaughter.

Her next victim was the remaining 15-meter type, it had just reached full speed as she leapt into the air yet again. She was orienting herself for a kick, body parallel with the horizon. But she instead sailed clear over her victim, reaching back and grabbing another fist-full of flesh. This time, the titan's momentum did all the work, tearing itself away from it's own nerve cluster. Yet again, the armored female came to a landing as the next titan arrived. Rather than discard the severed nape in her hand, she tossed it into her attacker's face. Briefly blinded, the titan didn't see her fist as it dealt a blow that scattered ever more head and neck fragments across the landscape. The last remaining foe, another 7-meter type could only continue to crawl in her direction, as her first offensive had severed one of its legs. She calmly walked over and stomped it's neck into the ground, a casual finale to a spectacular blood bath.

The armored female paused a moment, despite her amazing poise in battle, it had clearly exhausted her. She drew in a deep breath and proceeded toward Eren and the others. No sooner than Eren had gathered himself, he noticed something wrong with the approaching shifter. She had begun to drag her feet more with each stride. Suddenly the armored female collapsed before him, her head landing 10 meters away from the group. The massive body began to burn up, she was completely gassed. As Eren ran toward the fallen warrior he remembered that she had been in titan form the entire night. To still have energy for a fight like that after travelling all night boggled his mind.

He quickly mounted the titan's back and watched as the nape burned away to reveal the shifter within. Eren's heart rate soared, his eyes widened, and his mouth hung deep. Dark hair blew in the smoke-filled wind, but hair resembling the titan form came as no surprise to him.

What Eren didn't expect to see was the red scarf.

* * *

A/N: So now things should be getting interesting. I should forewarn that I start my new job on monday, so these rapid updates will probably dwindle down to 1 or 2 chapters per weekend. Sorry!

Anyway, here's some shout-outs to the reviewers:

Unblockabletree4: Hopefully this chapter puts your worries about OC characters ;) I sent you a PM about your questions.

Kamil the Awesome: When I saw that you had called it on Mikasa, I regretted the detail I went into describing the titan. The feedback helped me tone down the clues for twists and turns in the future. As for the beast titan, it's honestly the way I see the manga going with things once all the boring Historia Reisse stuff is out of the way (Hopefully soon).

Ryu Hizume: Thanks! I wanted to add a cerebral element to it all. It's easier to add character depth with internal monologue and dialog, for me anyway.

And to all the reviewers in general, thank you! Feedback and criticism, I crave it!

Also, I went back and combed Ch1, corrected a few things and made it a bit easier to follow.


	5. 5 Closer

The first to wake up was Berthold, his confusion only intensified as he pieced together where he was. His attention turned to Reiner lying next to him, he frantically placed two fingers on the young man's neck. Before he could feel a pulse, a voice called out to his relief.

"Everyone's alive, just knocked out." Eren's Voice...

Berthold picked his head up to investigate the source of the voice. Tall grass obstructed his sight, but through it he could see Eren, staring at the ground. Berthold released himself from his harness and stood, noting Annie's whereabouts before returning his attention to Eren. He wasn't particularly surprised to see Mikasa laid out next to where Eren was sitting. Eren's face looked lifeless, without pain or sorrow, simply uninhabited. He lowered and sat next to him.

"She's the strongest person I've ever met," Berthold began. "But she couldn't bring herself to face you. She must have gassed herself staying in titan form for so long, we're lucky you weren't knocked out."

"I was." Eren replied, almost in her defense. "She distracted a group of them until I woke up, then she took them all out with the last of her stamina that remained".

Minutes passed in silence, Eren finally spoke again.

"Why didn't you tell me in the cabin, you knew I would find out eventually." His voice was detached, monotone.

"She wanted to tell you herself, even if it killed her. She's like you, Eren, not a borne shifter. We don't know how you both did it, but we can tell that you were humans before somehow turning."

Eren's eyes begun to burn with life again, he lifted his head up straight and looked to Berthold. The colossal shifter looked genuinely confused, what did this mean? Eren thought back to those vague memories of his father, after the fall of Wall Maria. He couldn't remember much, but he knew that his father had something to do with his abilities. Could it be that Mikasa had a similar encounter? Or was it before the fall… how much did she remember of whatever happened? But far more importantly:

"Was she involved in the wall breaches?" Eren asked, visibly fearful of what Berthold might say.

"No… We don't know much about her at all, actually." Berthold answered, seeming troubled.

"I don't understand, how are you all working together then?" Eren asked.

"She came to us after Annie was caught, she was the reason Reiner came out and told you about our origins on top of the wall. She didn't fatally kill us with her blades because it forced us to transform. We didn't trust her so she forced our hand, she wanted us to take you right then and there. What none of us can figure out is why she fought so hard to take you back to the Survey Corps. She scares the shit out of us, her titan form is among the most dangerous that we have seen. Annie and Reiner would never admit it, but I see it in their faces. I hope she answers all of your questions when she wakes up, because we have plenty of our own for her."

"The mess gets worse faster than I can figure anything out. It was far simpler when the titans were the enemy." Eren said.

"They still are, in fact…" Berthold paused to quickly visually sweep their surroundings. "We need to move soon. It isn't safe out here in the open in daylight, we were meant to find shelter before dawn."

"So where then?"

"We aren't far from Shiganshina District, I can see the wall on the horizon. There are plenty of places to hide there. I'm afraid we don't have time to wait for the others to wake up. My titan form would draw too much attention and it's very slow, it seems that it falls on you to take us the rest of the way." Said Berthold

"Shiganshina…" Eren mumbled, looking to the horizon.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Eren, but it's the closest district to the direction we need to go when we leave Wall Maria." Berthold reasoned.

"No.. It's good." Eren said, almost in a trance, tracing the outline of his key through his shirt. "I know where we will be safe there…"

* * *

Annie awoke to a pounding head and the sensation of movement. It was never a good sign when she couldn't remember falling asleep. A large shadow loomed above her, it was moving slightly, in a rocking pattern. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw that the figure in question was Eren's titan form. A sense of comfort swept through her, which intensified as she saw the way he cradled her in his hand. It was a feeling so foreign to her, but she felt safe, like she could allow her guard to fall, like she could relax. Almost…

She sat up to assess the situation, something must have happened to knock her unconscious. Annie occupied his right hand, she peered over to find Mikasa asleep in his left. She briefly wondered about the others before seeing Berthold and Reiner, both perched on Eren's left shoulder. By that time, her movement had caught Eren's attention. Their eyes met for a moment, despite his titan's lack of facial cues, she could feel a sense of relief from him without the need to invade his thoughts.

Eren gracefully lifted the girl up to join the the others, she dusted herself off before hopping over. Reiner had extended a hand, but as usual, she opted to manage on her own.

"What happened?" Annie said coldly.

"Well," Reiner began. "Nobody remembers how we were dropped, but it's a good guess that Mikasa was attacked. Berthold woke up before we left the scene, he say that the harness was torn off her neck, not unfastened."

"I knew she couldn't keep that up, that bitch put us all in danger because she couldn't face Eren. I could have gotten us to Shiganshina before daybreak." Annie scolded, looking down at Mikasa.

Eren let out a slight growl, as if to remind them how close they were to his ears. But this didn't faze Annie in the slightest, but Berthold spoke up:

"Well, she may or may not have been at fault initially. But, from what Eren told me, she kept about 10 titans away from us. He said that she just stood there and let them latch onto her, who knows for how long. Then, when Eren woke up, she obliterated each one before she ran out of energy and collapsed."

Annie almost seemed to ignore what Berthold said, instead she sat down and closed her eyes.

'I'm sorry that we couldn't tell y...'

'Berthold already told me.' Eren interrupted.

'Oh… good. I'm sure it's hard to deal with.'

'Honestly, Annie, nothing else can surprise me. Nothing at all. There is absolutely nothing that could ever shatter my world more than what I found out today. Is much as I feel betrayed, I have stronger feelings that it can only get better from here.' Eren corrected.

There was a brief pause before Annie replied.

'You're in pain, Eren.'

Eren's titan drew in a deep breath and released a heavy sigh. They both relished in the silence, nothing else needed to be said. They all simply looked ahead at the approaching wall, at Reiner's handiwork.

* * *

Just outside the hole lied Eren's smoke-ridden titan. Reiner had insisted that it was safer to travel on foot and only shift if threatened. This made sense to Eren, but it didn't put him in any sense of comfort either. As his titan's nape opened, he felt cool air pour over him. It was strange, it never felt warm inside until it was time to separate. He pulled the tissue from his face, it never seemed to get any easier. The longer he remained titan, the more it felt like ripping his own skin away. To his surprise, he collided with something as he sat up. Eren began to contemplate what the obstruction could be until he felt hands on his shoulder.

"Annie.." He muttered as he ripped his left arm free.

Once fully freed, he turned to meet his help. There was a breeze that pushed her bangs from her face. The morning sun seemed to strike her perfectly, he always had known her to be pretty but something seemed different. The pain in her eyes bled entirely into his view every time he saw her. It was a tragic beauty that seemed to captivate him a greater degree every day. He wanted to solve her pain, he wanted her to solve his.

"Um, thanks Annie." He said, looking down.

Her head shot to the right and away, an effort to hide her blush.

Berthold and Reiner, holding Mikasa, stood a few meters away from them.

"Wow" Said Reiner, "You'd think she had a soul if we didn't know better."

Berthold could only nod as he scratched his head, they both waited as Eren and Annie made their way over. Eren headed straight for Reiner, arms extended.

"I'll take her." He said

"Are you sure? You should probably take it easy so fresh out of your titan.." Reiner advised.

"I'm fine. I'm sure you have a few more issues with her than I do at the moment anyway."

Reiner said nothing, which was confirmation in its own right. Eren took a knee in front of Reiner, who transferred the girl to Eren's shoulders. With Mikasa secured, Eren promptly stood up, scanned their surroundings for titans, and headed toward the hole. The rest of them followed closely, prepared of whatever awaited them in Shiganshina.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the length. It was supposed to be the longest chapter yet, but I start my job tomorrow and won't have so much free time any more. So expect another chapter by next Sunday night. Big things await in Shiganshina... :D


	6. 6 Sleepless

The travelers were impressed by how well-preserved Shiganshina was. Apart from the damage sustained by the initial assault, the only striking difference was debris littering the streets and the light coat of moss over anything shaded from the sun. Nature was hard at work reclaiming the area, but it would take far more than three years.

They had made their way to the nearest set of alleys to the gate which they came. Reiner had taken point, followed by Eren with Mikasa, Annie, then Berthold. At each intersection of alleys, Reiner would peak around both corners before motioning for the others to move across with him. After four intersections, Reiner stooped to peer through a basement window.

"Here, the basement has many rooms, we'll be safe here for the day." Reiner quietly announced.

"No." Said Eren "I have somewhere else in mind."

Reiner looked up at him, puzzled and slightly irritated.

"What are you going on about? Every minute we spend above ground is a risk, Eren!" Reiner warned.

"No, Eren has that key to his father's basement, remember?" Said Berthold.

"I think there is information in there that we can all benefit from. It could explain why my father turned me into this.. and Mikasa…" Eren trailed off.

"How far is it, Eren?" Annie asked.

Eren looked around, everything he remembered to be so vibrant and teeming with life seemed so hollow. It pained him to see the setting of his greatest, most peaceful memories in such he still knew exactly where he was.

"Not far, a few minutes and we can be there." Eren finally answered.

"Alright fine," Reiner conceded. "Lets hurry, I don't like how quiet it is here."

The group moved on quickly and smoothly through the maze of alleys. They didn't so much as hear the distant foot falls of a titan. Eren wanted to take solace in that fact, but instead it terrified him. Nonetheless, he and the others continued to cover ground swiftly. Eren eventually led them to an outlet into a large road. Reiner was first to peer around the corners, signalling that the coast was clear. But Eren looked straight ahead, nowhere else. He had only seen it that way for a matter of minutes, but the level of detail he had retained put him firmly in his darkest memory. Eren could only stand and watch the fateful moment replay before his dampening eyes.

Reiner and Berthold both fought their instincts to console him, they knew very well they were the two worst people for the task. Annie kept her distance as well, sensing that the young man just needed a moment. Shortly thereafter, sure enough, Eren took a breath and turned to Reiner.

"I need you to take Mikasa while I go find the entrance." He said.

Reiner nodded and carefully took the girl from Eren. Before anyone could say anything, Eren was making his way across the street. He wasn't careless, he maintained situational awareness, but his emotions were nonetheless unyielding. He walked around the the rubble, making his way to toward the basement side of the site. As he walked, he could see where where everything once stood. He saw the table where his family would sit every morning. He saw the morning light streaking through the Eastern windows into the kitchen. He saw his father, Mikasa, and himself at the table, his father reading a story from one of his books. And at the kitchen sink, looking back at them, there she was… But, she wasn't looking at them. No, her compassionate and caring smile was directed at him. He was sure that his stomach was being twisted to shreds inside him, it wasn't entirely clear to him how he could still be standing.

He couldn't breath as the images before him capitulated to reality. He let a sob escape before regaining his composure. Eren surveyed the ruins, and right in front of him was what he had come so far for. Atop the entrance was splintered wood that had once held up his childhood home, but nothing that couldn't be moved. But something else drew his attention at that point; embedded in a splinter of a support beam, fluttering in the cool breeze, was a shred of fabric. The young man approached and liberated the material to inspect it. Suddenly his heart was pulled into a void where no light could reach, he knew what he held in his hand. Tears wouldn't be contained anymore, they advanced down his face with an authority. Eren fell to his knees, clinching the segment of his mother's shirt tightly as he looked to the clouds.

Minutes passed and he could only seem to relive the day over and over. He was far too awash in his state to notice a guest had joined his thoughts.

'Eren, don't move!' The presence called.

He snapped out of it enough to check his surroundings, he looked left, right, and ahead; nothing. Slowly, he turned his head around to see what Annie warned him of. Slowly traipsing along a road perpendicular to his was a 10-meter class titan. It hadn't seen Eren and seemed intent to stay its course and not become a threat. But Eren wasn't thinking logically, freshly and painfully reminded of vendetta made long ago, he stood up. Reiner and Berthold couldn't understand what he planned to do, but Annie knew immediately.

'Don't do it Eren!' Annie implored. 'You'll draw out every titan in Shiganshina! We don't need that.'

But Eren moved neither hand to his face, he only stood and stared. But something was happening, his tears were dried.. or were they? No, they had evaporated; steam was beginning to emanate from his eyes. It wasn't a particularly windy day, but the others noticed Eren's clothing and hair were beginning to move about as if strong gusts surrounded solely him. His eyes began to give off an amber glow, like hot coals, they radiated intense heat.

Suddenly Annie understood what was happening, and it wasn't looking good.

'Eren! You don't know what you're about to do! It is very dangerous, stop!' Annie pleaded.

But Eren gave no reply, he didn't so much as acknowledge her presence, but he hadn't blocked her out either. Instead, he remained still and focused on the passing titan. His eyes were the focal point of the chaos that surrounded him. Flames were beginning to pour from them and whip about his face at the mercy of the wind. Reiner and Berthold also knew the danger of what Eren was about to do. They began to run the way they had come in the alleys, before looking back at Annie.

"We need to get out of here! He'll kill us all, Annie." Berthold called back at her.

Annie said nothing, instead closing her eyes.

'Eren, you're putting us in danger right now. You're going to kill us, Mikasa included… Please, take control, you're letting your emotions rule you. I know what's going through your head, but this won't be worth it. We have a bigger fight!'

But in Eren's eyes, the burning inferno continued to rage. That was it, he couldn't be reasoned with, he was at the mercy of his own rage. He had come a long way, but he was still Eren Yeager; the boy in a hurry to die. Annie could only stand and watch what would be the last thing she'd ever see.

"Annie! Come on! You're dead right there!" Reiner yelled to her.

But she knew that there was no escape, they wouldn't get far enough to survive what was coming. So she ignored Reiner's plea, instead, she addressed Eren once more.

'I'm sorry we hurt you… I'm sorry _I hurt you_. Goodbye Eren.'

She welcomed death, at least at the time. She felt as if her suffering could end, as if she could finally let her guard down and watch something beautiful as her life slipped away. Annie couldn't help but smile at the boy across the road, her feelings had grown far beyond respect for him. He was everything she was never allowed to be, his presence always seemed to remind her what it looks like to truly be alive. He was a window into what her life could have been, and she couldn't think of anyone better to be the last person she would see. Not even her father...

But instead, as if a switch were flipped, Eren fell to his knees once more, still gripping what remained from his mother. Flames turned to steam, steam faded soon after, and the wind surrounding the boy calmed. He buried his face in the torn cloth and begun to cry silently.

Fortunately, the titan hadn't noticed the disturbance to its left and had continued onward, out of sight. Annie, upon shaking her nerves, surveyed the rest of the area before running to Eren, stooping down close by.

"It's right there, just give me a second." He said, between sobs.

But Annie paid no attention to the basement he pointed at, instead looking only to him.

"Thank you," She finally said.

Eren began drying his tears and collecting himself before gazing back at her.

"When we last fought, in the Stohess District…" Eren began. "Why did you run away after you took me down?"

Annie paused a moment, a look of confusion made a brief appearance in her eyes.

"Let's get inside, before any more titans show up" She finally said.

* * *

"Fuck!" Eren yelled, his fists landing on the empty desk.

Annie could only imagine how shitty it was for him. To spend so much time in anticipation only to find nothing. She scanned dark basement for any signs of information, but it was completely empty. It was as if it had been deliberately cleared out at some point in the last three years. Had someone been there first, or had it been empty all along? The only thing remaining in the room was a desk, some loose papers, and a few candles. There was a small furnace down there, but smoke could attract the wrong attention in broad daylight. So she retrieved the candles and set about lighting and placing them around the room.

After a half hour of searching, they had all given up. The others began preparing to get some sleep but Eren sat in silence, his back against the wall. Annie looked around the room, Berthold and Reiner had already assumed their sleeping arrangements and had shut their eyes. Her attention shifted to Mikasa, who hadn't moved an inch since being laid out in her own corner of the room. Finally, she returned to Eren, sitting beside him looking at the same spot on the floor that he did. Neither of them spoke, aloud or otherwise. They simply sat as a symphony of snores took shape around them.

"I was afraid…" Annie finally said

Eren was almost startled by the break in the white noise. He was no less surprised to find an expression that she had never shown him before. It was real pain in her eyes, and it took him no amount of effort to see it. It was as if he was looking at Annie Leonhart for the first time. Little did he know how true that was, but he could only ask:

"What do you mean?"

"I wanted to go home." She continued, not once breaking eye contact. "I was tired of killing.. I _am _tired of killing. I didn't have any trouble doing it, at first, but then I began to live among the horrors I had caused. I tried to keep my distance, I tried to make no attachments. But, you can't endure so much with people without learning about who they are. And you can't understand people without respecting, even liking them. Nothing could have prepared me for it... for what I had to do to the people I couldn't help but care about. I have nightmares, day or night, asleep or awake, it doesn't matter. I just see faces, expressions on each face I've stolen life from."

Annie's eyes grew murky, she knew that Eren could see it, but she continued:

"I saw the pain in your titan's eyes as we fought, you weren't fighting me to avoid capture, you only thought of the ones I've hurt… I couldn't take it. Every blow I dealt to your head hurt so much, but I wanted to stop you long enough to get away. I… I just wanted to go home, Eren. I didn't care about my mission, I didn't care about becoming a Warrior, I just wanted to leave before I had to kill anymore."

She stared through his green windows to the world, looking for his state of mind. He simply looked back blankly, as if too bewildered to speak. She felt like she might have to explain further, but before she could elaborate:

"You could never understand the pain you've caused, Annie.." Eren said, unflinching.

Each word sliced through Annie's soul, she couldn't breath. She wanted to look away, but she knew that she deserved it. She had to face the truth, even if it came from Eren Yeager.

"You've killed more people than I can even gather memories for." Eren continued as tears began to reduce the stricken girl before him to a blur. "Eld...Gunther...Oluo…..Petra… They all meant only to carry out their duty, an order to protect me from...you."

Annie could contain her tears no longer. With a gasp, her sobs made their way over her walls as well. But she didn't look away, she had to take it, she deserved the pain.

"I hated you for it, I vowed to rid you from the Earth. My heart hurts to this day from it, but…"

'But?!' She thought. Eren paused to wipe more tears away and clear his nose, it felt like her life could pass her by as she waited. She wanted to shake the rest out of him with by his shoulders.

"Annie… I.."

'What!? What is it' She screamed in her thoughts, the suspense ate at her like an insect beneath her skin.

"I… forgive you…" Eren finally said between sobs.

"You're just another soldier following orders, Annie. It's taken me a while to fully grasp what is going on, but I finally understand. I'll never forget the look on your face when you saw the people crushed under you in that church. The church that I knocked you into… It took me a long time to come to terms with that, those innocent lives I took when I became too focused on my mission. I forgive you, Annie, but you need to forgive yourself. It isn't easy, but I've learned to do it, I owe those people who have died because of me. I can't make it right if I let it distract me, I know that those lives aren't in vain if I can save even more."

It was too much, her sobs were becoming uncontrollable, she needed to be alone. The girl stood up and headed straight for the door, and before Eren could protest, she had already closed it behind her.

Annie hadn't made it to the steps before she collapsed to her knees, looking upward as she cried openly to the world for the second time in her life. The Afternoon sun sent rays that pierced through the scattered wood and debris above her. The light danced through the dust she had kicked up and kissed her face, her tears reflecting it in all directions. She could almost enjoy the beauty of her surroundings, until she heard the door behind her quietly close.

Eren, damn him, couldn't he take a hint? She rose to her feet and began to turn, preparing to demand her solitude. But rather, her lips confronted a barrier before they could speak. Eren had his arms around the girl before she knew what was happening. She wanted to push him away, but she didn't. She could have put him on the ground, but she didn't. The truth was, she didn't want it to stop, and above all else, she hadn't realized before how much she needed it.

Slowly, one hand came to rest on Eren's back, then the other. Next, her lips began to mimic his. She had never kissed anyone before, but it all came so naturally. His smell was what one would expect of a traveler on a long journey, but to her, it only amplified the comfort she drew from him. Their tears mingled as their cheeks occasionally collided. For once in her life, if only for a moment, everything was perfect.

After a few moments, Eren brought the kiss to a close but brought Annie closer, to a tight embrace. He felt so warm to her, she couldn't understand why, but it brought her a comfort she had never felt before. She muffled her sobs into his shoulder, but he only held her tighter. Time passed, but even when her tears had run dry, she didn't let go.

Neither one of them had anything left to say, they both had exactly what they needed, at exactly the right time. They continued until they both grew tired of standing and proceeded back inside. Upon entrance, the dark room offered Annie a stark reminder of how tired she was. Her eyes studied Eren, who seemed to be undergoing the same realization.

Without hesitation Eren found a place on the floor to sleep and lied back. Annie immediately noticed that the spot he chose left only enough room for her to lie next to him. But, she didn't see it as manipulation, no, it was an invitation. She didn't lie next to him, she placed an arm over his waist and her head on his chest, she accepted. In turn, he brought an arm under and around her small frame. Annie wasn't sure what any of it would mean in the morning, but it didn't matter. She just wanted to be close to the strange boy who made her feel like she didn't always have to be alone.

They both lied still, preparing for slumber to take them away. Eren had only one final thought, which he voiced after delivering a goodnight kiss to the girl's forehead.

"I'm sorry I dragged us here, I thought we would finally learn something worth knowing."

Before Annie could respond, someone else spoke up.

"Did you check the furnace?"

They both sat up, startled and confused.

"Mikasa.."

* * *

A/N: Whew! What a hard chapter to write! Spent more time refining this one as well, kissing scenes are new for me so go easy! Not to mention how difficult it has been to string out Annie and Eren's tension, I felt Annie's walls would need a few chapters to start chipping away. Hopefully the next one will be easier to write, without spoiling anything; I'll have plenty of mysteries to choose from to reveal :)

In response to unblockabletree's advice:

1\. Yeah, that's a difficult area for me, because some things I intentionally leave the reader in the dark, other things I neglect. It's something I'm hopefully improving on with every chapter.

2\. I went a little overboard in some areas, but I also wanted to paint an exact picture to help the reader follow along as the battle progressed. It's safe to say I'll be looking for a better middle ground next time around.

3\. For character separation, I see what you mean, but I just won't always be able to do that 100%. For instance this last chapter, the second half is mostly from Annie's perspective but I had to throw in a few takes from Eren's point of view in order to properly illuminate what I want the reader to pick up on a the right time. Best I can promise here is to try my best to minimize any confusion it may bring about.

But yeah, criticism is always welcome, this is my first story… ever. I'm finding that ideas are easy, the hard part is showing a reader what you see in your head.

Anyways, thanks for reading, guys and girls!


	7. 7 Strangers

"You pricks!" Yelled Reiner, eyes only half open. "I had just gotten her pants off and…"

The stout young man stopped dead in his tracks as he made note of three pairs of eyes he had earned a glare from. He picked up the solemn atmosphere and deemed his interrupted sleep a lesser priority.

"What's happening?" He finished.

Reiner was simply ignored as everyone sans Berthold, still quite asleep, continued from the interruption.

"Go on…" Mikasa urged, eying Eren in particular.

Eren was stupefied. Sure, he knew she would wake up eventually, but somehow he was unprepared. Above all else, he couldn't decide what he wanted more badly at that moment: Answers to his overwhelming questions or what was in that furnace? He looked down at the brick floor, trying to lose himself in the network of cracks that lined the grout. Anything to clear his head long enough to calm himself down. He felt like he could strangle Mikasa as easily as hug her.

He looked over to Annie, to his surprise; she was fixated on the floor. Eren found it odd, this was far different than her usual, disinterested and distant stare. She was showing discomfort - outwardly - but why? It wasn't fear, was it?

Finally, Eren decided to shrug it all and started with the first question that came to mind.

"Why?"

Mikasa showed nothing; no flinch, no countenance at all. She simply kept her sights locked on Eren, without offering Annie or the still-confused Reiner so much as a glance.

"Why what?" She asked plainly, pushing Eren's newly advanced patience too far.

"What the fuck do you think?!" Eren screamed as he leapt to his feet.

The outburst left a wake of shock in the room; startling Reiner, attracting Annie's gaze, and jolting Berthold wide awake. Berthold clearly wasn't piecing together the situation but, despite his state, he knew better than to ask. But Mikasa, none too surprisingly, was unfazed. She merely released a quick sigh and spoke.

"I know you think I betrayed you, Eren. I also know better than to try and convince you otherwise. But I promise you that by doing as I ask, you'll find clearer answers than I can offer."

"As you ask…" Eren hissed, unconvinced.

"The furnace, Eren." Mikasa gently reminded.

"Mikasa.." Eren whispered, beginning to give off a manic, tortured energy. "I don't give a shit what is in that furnace until I hear some answers from _you._ Whatever is in there isn't going anywhere in the meantime. I'm sure… that I can find a way to forgive you for this….." Eren paused, fighting back tears. He wanted to look at Annie, he felt her there but it was as if his hand would touch nothing if he reached out. "But I can't do that if you don't tell me anything."

At that point he ensconced, a few rogue tears had hastily traced his face as he looked at the one person he thought he knew. Sure, forgiveness would be easy with time, but some things can never be fully repaired. Eren's heart sank as he finally had to face the fact that all his adopted...no, his _sister_ was gone… she never really existed. All he had were memories of a fiercely loyal sibling whom he suddenly could never be sure was real.

Eren, consumed in inner turmoil, didn't even notice that his thoughts carried a passenger. He felt a hand meet his knee, he looked over to see Annie's expression. Sorrowful… she didn't need to speak a word, she felt his pain. She saw and felt it all and in that moment, her eyes told him that she understood, that she wanted to spare him such pain.

However, neither of them could appreciate the humanity before Mikasa had stood up and opened the furnace. Eren couldn't speak, he felt like she heard nothing he had to say. But pain stood in place of anger, Eren Yeager had run out of anger... All he could do was watch her

Mikasa pulled out a leather pouch in a swift manner that seemed to indicate that she had known exactly where to reach inside. As quickly as it had been retrieved was it presented before Eren in open hands. He studied it carefully, it had few wrinkles, so it hadn't been opened or closed many times. It was slightly larger than an eyeglass case, neatly stitched and crafted from cow's leather, a rare commodity even before the fall of Wall Maria.

He then looked up, into the eyes of the beholder. Stoic as ever, he couldn't even maintain his gaze; she showed nothing. Her dark pools gave no hints of remorse, nor even regret. All he could do was retrieve the item and peer away from her. As if prompted, Mikasa immediately returned to the other side of the room and sat down, resuming her intense gaze on her adoptive brother.

"You're killing us here! Open it will you?" Reiner finally blurted, earning himself a firm elbow to his side from Berthold. The two exchanged contrasting looks before attention was returned to the item in question.

Eren drew in a deep breath before finally popping open the case, and dumping its contents into his open hand. A medical grade syringe, bottle of yellowish-green liquid, and a folded piece of paper.

"This is what I've strove to find all these years…" Eren muttered to himself ironically as he carefully unfolded the paper.

All was quiet in the room, his eyes grew wide, his mouth agape. It was his father's handwriting… There was a knock at his mind, without a second thought he granted Annie's entrance, no thoughts needed be traded, she wanted only to read with him. Tension could only build around him as they began to read.

_My Son,_

_I write this letter with the utmost hopes that you reach it. I'm afraid that there is only so much I can hope to explain , I can only pray that you reach me in due time so I may educate you further. But, I'm afraid what this will explain must suffice for now._

_Eren, as you have begun to discover on your own, you possess a gift. After the fall of Maria I used means to begin a process in you. This process takes place over the course of two successive plateaus. You should be nearing the peak of the first plateau, with this letter I've included the means to begin the second. _

_It pains me to place such dire expectations on you, Son, but I'm afraid that the fate of two races rest with you. There have been many tests and stages that this process requires which you've undergone over the years. Some of which, have come at great costs to countless others. I don't expect your forgiveness for the details you will discover, I can only tell you that, in the end, every sacrifice will culminate into the survival of countless more._

_Humans and shifters alike are stalked by an evil that looms closer every day. A day is coming where you will have to make a decision. The second plateau of this process will change you, more so than the first. Eren, you have to give up parts of yourself that you hold dear in order to save the people you love. The needle in your hand is useless until you are ready, but I have faith that you'll know when you are._

_I am confident that Mikasa has kept you safe on your journeys. She has made sacrifices as well, you may not understand that yet but you will. She, and likely the other shifters, will lead you to Arrah. While the journey is dangerous, it is the safest place for you to master your gift. I know that this letter will leave you with unanswered questions, however; I promise you those answers when you arrive. I wish you safe travels, I'll be waiting for you there._

_I love you, my son._

_-Grisha_

* * *

"Grisha?!" Reiner screamed. "Grisha is your fucking _father?!_"

"Holy shit" Berthold muttered, shaking his head.

This took Eren by surprise, after rereading the letter to them, that was the part that stood out to them?

"You guys know…" Eren tried to speak, but overcome with perplexity, words escaped him, if only for a moment. "My father is in Arrah… and you know him?"

"Eren," Berthold spoke. "Your father is the most important man in Arrah. He is a hero to us… he is the reason we have survived for this long."

"But how? He's never left the walls." Eren asked, voice cracking slightly.

"Until the fall of Wall Maria, he only visited a few times every year, but he definitely made his way to Arrah." Berthold Explained.

Eren was beginning to piece it all together, he was looking back on so many trips his father made over the years. Trips he had told them were to the inner districts; medicine related. Eren wasn't sure how to feel, despite so many new questions that had been arising, he felt a backlog of new information congesting his thoughts. He couldn't metabolize everything quickly enough, the only question he could muster was:

"How did he help you survive?"

"Well," Reiner said, his surprise over Eren's father somewhat subsided. "Before Grisha came to us, shifters were nomadic; we had no settlements. We could never stay anywhere for too long in great numbers because of Imps. Imps can smell larger congregations of shifters from many kilometers away. And since smaller groups cannot, in all practicality, defend from standard titans without risk, establishing a settlement wasn't safe. Grisha was the one to discover that Imps could track our scent, and he successfully devised a chemical that masks it. It wasn't long after that when Arrah was established 14 years ago."

"When I was a toddler… mother mentioned he was absent fairly often at that time.." Eren muttered, face still fairly blank. "Well, shit, that just leaves my mother… I wonder how she was somehow in on this as well." He spoke those words with a mixture of sarcasm and legitimate fear.

No sooner than he could finish speaking, he could see only bright lights and a backdrop of darkness. What was happening now? He blinked his eyes rapidly, but no change in scenery graced his eyesight. As he tried to look around, he noticed a tiny image that expanded ever-slowly. He waited as he seemed to be tunnelling through a void to meet his own eyesight. As his sense was returning to him, he saw only bricks and two pairs of feet, one of which were not touching the ground. Eren suddenly realized he was on the ground, and with that perception came a strong pain on the entire right side of his face. Suddenly he saw the second set of boots come to the ground, along with their owner; Annie clutched her throat as she fell to the floor. This was right as two other sets of boots had joined the first. Finally looking up, he found Berthold and Reiner trying to pull Mikasa away from Annie.

As his pain seemed to vanish, Eren found himself at Annies side, between her and Mikasa. As he helped Annie sit upright, his eyes trained only on his sister, who had broken free from Berthold and Reiner and returned to her position across the room.

"What the fuck happened?" Eren hissed.

"That crazy bitch!" Reiner shouted, still catching his breath. "She jumped up and backhanded you out cold." The young man paused briefly for a few heavy breaths. "Well, that clearly pissed Annie off, but Mikasa countered her kick and started choking her out. Took the both of us to pry the two apart!"

As Eren continued to watch Mikasa closely, he couldn't help but think back and realize that he was wrong: He had not run out of anger at all.

* * *

A/N: Sorry Sorry Sorry! I know I've been building up on Mikasa's big revelation but I promise you that the mystery is going somewhere. I have the next two chapters planned out and everything will build up beautifully.. if I can put the right words to it all anyway.

Also, PLEEEEAAASE don't take offense, and I want to disclaim that I thoroughly appreciate anyone taking the time to review my story. I just humbly ask that you throw in "Spoiler Alert" or something before writing about the chapters. I really don't want to come off as pretentious here, I'm fully aware that I'm not writing a best-seller. I just want any people who might read the reviews before trying out stories not to have anything ruined since I try to throw new twists and left-field developments in here regularly.

But other than that, reviews are awesome and I appreciate them a great deal, constructive criticism especially. Thanks for reading!


	8. 8 Lucidity

"Are you sure you're alright to travel? She really sucker punched you good." Annie asked.

Eren drew a deep breath of the dusty air, smelling of candles and mortar.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'd still rather her do that 100 more times than take another beating from Levi." Eren replied, noticing her wince at the man's name. "Oh, that's right, you've been at his mercy before as well… sorry to take you back."

"It's fine," She replied with a shallow laugh. "I just don't respond well to defeat, it haunts me."

"Makes sense."

With a loud crash, the cellar door flew open, the dark orange skyline traced a large figure in the doorway.

"The fuck are you two dipshits doing?" Reiner called down.

"Making sure eren can still see straight after that slug to the cheek." Replied Annie, as if she had prepared the excuse in advance..

"Hurry that shit up, I'm about to shift, and I'm not trying to wait on you two." Reiner shouted with a grin, shutting the door behind him.

"Does nothing stress him out at all?" Eren asked with a laugh.

"Honestly?" The girl asked rhetorically as she whisked her bangs to the side. "He's the biggest wuss here, his whole persona is who he wants to be, not who he is."

"Well, he had me fooled…" Eren said, unsure how to process such a secret. "I mean, I know he's not the big brother figure I thought he was, but I figured he was acting as if he was with his own people."

"It's a real mind-fuck, living a lie for years-on-end. When Armin finally found me out, I could only laugh. It was like breathing for the first time, an indescribable feeling of relief. I didn't have to be someone I'm not anymore. And we all dealt with it in our own ways, I kept my distance, Reiner became a character, and Berthold…"

"...Berthold?" Eren asked, intrigued.

"He used to be… He was something else. The 'Reiner' you came to know; that was Berthold, before all of this started. Reiner and even myself once looked up to Berthold, he was everything a warrior should be. But, I think, breaking that wall and watching death stain his hands changed him. Reiner had to take control of things because Berthold couldn't lead us anymore. I think that Reiner took on Berthold's persona, not only to lead us, but to fool himself into believing that he was fit for it. Just like I'm sure you're a different person since losing your mother, we all lost pieces of our own sanity throughout all of this."

Suddenly Annie snapped back to her familiar demeanor. "Anyway, we should get going, it only stays dark for so long and Reiner is kind of slow."

"Yeah.." Eren replied quietly.

Eren contemplated embracing the girl before proceeding outside, but in his reluctance to push his luck, opted to trace her shoulder with his hand as he turned away. To his surprise, his hand didn't follow his own movements as Annie took hold. As he finished turning around, she had completely clasped herself around him. Eren felt his heart melting, never had he felt such a connection with someone. It was the best he could do to simply appreciate such a profound comfort as his life was engulfed in chaos and lies.

"Thank you" Eren whispered.

"For what?" Annie asked, turning her head, but reluctant to release her grasp on him.

"I know how hard it is for you to let your guard down. For you to make yourself vulnerable… to support me when I'm weak. Just… thank you, Annie."

The young woman in his arms offered no verbal reply, instead; she squeezed him ever tighter. She wasn't sure why, but she couldn't tell him that she needed it more than he did.

A familiar surge of electricity ignited the sky as Annie and Eren emerged from the basement. It was still a strange sight for Eren, who watched in awe as bones, tendons, muscle, and finally skin and armor all erupted from Reiner's body. Within seconds, the hulking Armored titan stood before them. As Eren did his best to quell his gut reaction to the familiar sight, Reiner kneeled down next to Berthold and Mikasa. Both of whom hopped into the awaiting fight hand, riding it to his shoulder.

As Annie approached the behemoth, Eren took a breath, swallowed his dark memories, and followed. He brought the piece of his mother's clothing to his face and squeezed. Everything he saw around him deepened the hole in his soul. As he stepped onto the armored hand, all he could think about was putting Shiganshina behind him.

Safe from the prying eyes of Berthold and Mikasa, Eren and Annie had no qualms with huddling together for warmth. Although Reiner was considerate enough to use his hands to shield both shoulders from the cold wind, winter was coming fast and the ambient temperature was well below comfortable. Sensing Annies apparent trust in Reiner, Eren let go of his apprehension to leaning back against the giant hand. As the two of them watched the outline of Wall Maria dwindle against the rising moon, they were firmly reminded that they hadn't slept at all amidst the insanity Mikasa had brought to the basement. And in short time, they both had passed out.

* * *

Cool darkness abound, yet Eren had no confusion as to where he was as he opened his eyes. He felt nothing but himself, Annie was absent yet again. With a heavy sigh, he sat on the ground and prepared himself for another night of boredom. In a way he felt angry at Annie for setting the dream states in motion and then leaving him all alone. He was beginning to miss his nightmares; sure, they were horrible, but he never really had to remember them when he awoke. This new state was different, it was as lucid as consciousness but there was a dark, barron air to it. He may as well have been awake and locked in a cell for the duration of his slumber. It was torture and he only wanted Annie to come back.

"What if…" Eren said aloud.

The boy closed his eyes and focused his thoughts. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but concentrated to the best of his ability. He felt a white light beam down on him through his eyelids. As he opened them, he was greeted with a familiar sight. Moonlight danced off the body of water and barely showed the green of the trees in the valley. Eren impressed himself with the detail that he remembered; from the smell of evergreen pine to the sound of the crickets. He had finally made his way back to the lake that Reiner and Berthold had led him to the first night of training.

It was a place that had become his sanctuary of sorts during those three years. Whenever he felt the need to be alone, it was his escape. Despite at least three others knowing the location, he never once was followed or found there.

The young man felt tears of relief welling up as he stood atop the plateau overlooking the entire valley. It took him back to that first night as a cadet, he remembered the very spot Reiner stood as he offered his confidence in Eren in learning the 3D gear. The very memory of that moment helped him feel like everything will be alright in his current situation as well. Lost in nostalgia, Eren decided to visit the shoreline. But as he began walking, something dawned on him:

"This is mine… My world, my dreamscape." He thought aloud as he looked down at his feet.

As he did so, the ground slowly pulled away from him. It was such a strange sensation for him, his ingrained instinct was to find a solid object that offered the desired swing-path and aim his hips accordingly. The unfamiliarity unsettled him enough to prompt a quick flight to the shore line.

As he landed, the distinct sound of thunder made its way across the area. This confused him, as he hadn't willed that particular detail into the scene. Eren pondered the peculiarity as raindrops began to kiss his face. He could have spent more time figuring the phenomenon out, but he had always enjoyed rain. A light sprinkle advanced to moderate downpour, as he felt his clothes saturate, he was amazed at how real it all felt.

As a strong smile broke, tears coalesced with rainwater. A small laugh escaped his lips, he had no idea why he was so happy in that moment. Somehow rain, a nuisance to most, helped him see his problems with an indifference that liberated his soul. If only for a brief time, he could feel what it was like to have no problems or fears. He smiled skyward as he imagined his problems washing away like dirt on his skin.

"Eren, what is this?" An unsteady voice called.

Eren turned from the water to find Annie standing behind him. Despite his surprise in her finding him, the boy simply offered her a genuine smile. Studying her, he found himself speechless. Her Arrai uniform was soaked, droplets danced and meandered their way down her form, shimmering in moonlight. Blonde hair, arranged the same as ever, her saturated bangs hugged the form of her face. Her eyes squinted in defense from rogue splashes of rain, but he could still see blue reflect back to him as moonlight found it's way through. Her arms were crossed tightly as if she were cold, likely out of habit more than anything. She was the most beautiful thing Eren had ever seen.

Having completely forgotten her question, Eren approached the girl. Annie peered back up at Eren, raising her hand above her eyes as her head tilted up into the downpour. Placing his hands on her waist, he kept his gaze into her blue pools and spoke.

"Can I show you something?" He said with a smile.

Annie, caught by surprise, could only mutter: "Y.. Yes"

Without latency, Eren took her free hand and led her toward the lake. As they approached the water, he showed no intention of stopping. Before she could voice her concern, his foot landed on the surface and remained atop. And with the proceeding step, Annie observed the same result. As she processed what she was seeing, the girl failed to notice that she had already walked onto the water as well. It was a strange feeling, the feedback from the surface offered solid grip, yet she could feel the water lapping at her soles. Annie was aware of what was happening, but nonetheless intrigued by Eren's display of creativity.

Eren led her a few meters before stopping and looking back at her. He gave off a warm smile as he lowered himself and laid on his back, atop the water.

"Come on, try this!" Eren said, still grinning.

Slowly, Annie lowered and situated herself next to Eren. As she laid down, she raised her hand over her eyes as she looked over at him.

"Move your hand, Annie. Look up." He said

She gave him a funny look, unconvinced.

"Trust me." He added.

Slowly, as she moved her hand, her pools were met with no rain drops they widened in awe of what they saw. Directly above them raged a lightning storm like she had never seen. Blue and white bolts streaked through the sky in intricate patterns, illuminating the entire valley with every strike. Thunder roared, echoing around them as they watched the plasma dance through the sky. Annie had never paid much attention to such weather, it was a beautiful sight. Each round of thunder seemed to compliment the white noise of the raindrops hitting the water next to her ears. She felt his fingers entwine with hers as she watched, a smile forced it's way across her face. The two of them gazed toward the raging sky for a solid ten minutes before Annie finally spoke.

"How are you doing all of this?"

"I don't know... I guess I decided that I wouldn't be a prisoner in my own head. I just focused on this place and it came to be. I'll never forget the night I came here during that big storm in our second year. It started after I arrived so I waited it out under a tree by the lake and watched the lightning." He replied.

"I remember that storm, it woke everyone up in the middle of the night, it came from nowhere." Annie noted. "I never knew this was even possible, my father never mentioned anything like this when he trained me, can you show me?"

Eren paused to think a moment.

"If you show me how to find you while we both dream. It get's lonely stuck in here, you know?" Eren said.

"I can do that, I'll show you the way later" Annie answered after some brief thought. She then tilted her head up slightly and looked around. "When did you come here? It's exactly how I remember it." Annie asked.

"You knew about it too?" He asked, looking over to see the girl nod. "I came here as often as I could, usually at night when I needed time alone to think. It was always so peaceful, it made everything on my mind feel simple." Eren said.

"Yeah, I… came here for similar reasons actually."

"Reiner and Berthold show you too?" He asked.

"I followed them here once, I thought they were planning without me but they were just going for a swim." Annie admitted.

"So you guys were never really very cl…"

Before Eren could finish, he was engulfed in white light that began to fade quickly. He felt vibrations through his entire body as he began to realize he had been awakened. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he felt Annie stir next to him.

"These vibrations. Where…" Before he could finish his thoughts, it dawned on him that Reiner was the cause. But why would a titan vibrate?

Feeling Annie take to her feet next to him, Eren did the same as they both peered over the giant hand. Collectively, their mouths fell agape as they pieced together what they saw. It was dark, but the moon and stars made it clear what stood ahead of them. Twenty meters in height, dark eyes fixed on them, body entirely coated with fur...

* * *

A/N: I know, I've been laying character development pretty thick. But, as you can see, I've been working to get to the meat and potatoes. And by-God, there will be plenty of meat and potatoes in the next chapter :) I also wanted to keep the dream element strong in the story since it both helps differentiate it and I'm a huge fan of the Ender's Game series; thus I love cerebral stuff, really getting into the character's heads.

Anyway, thanks for the continued support, hopefully this is a bearable addition to the action-junkies. And as always, thanks to the reviewers.

Oh yeah, if any of you know of anyone who does commissions for story covers feel free to send me the info. I've got a cover idea but I don't know where to even start to find an artist. Thanks!


	9. 9 Fall

'Birds - why are they so loud?'

'And the breeze… it's so strong, so cold. Why am I so aware of these things?'

Eren couldn't understand it. From the strong smell of morning dew and titan steam, to the emerging dawn to the west bombarding his eyesight. It all overwhelmed him, and as he stared into dark eyes of the strange creature, all his mind was only sensitive to anything and everything else. What did it want? What did it mean for them? As his focus returned to him, he realized that he hadn't asked what they could do to shifters. Could imps permanently change shifters into titans? Would they have control if that happened or would they become mindless? A few seconds passed as Eren zeroed in on the most relevant question he could ask.

His eyes turned to Annie, what met them was more than unnerving. Blue irises were flanked with more white space than Eren had ever seen from her. Her lips were parted as her jaw hung loosely open. Still, he had to know:

"What should we do?"

The question seemed to snap her halfway back; drawing her mouth closed while her eyes remained planted. The girl cleared her throat to speak:

"We wait. You always wait for them to make the first move."

"Wh… What can they do to shifters?" His voice shook.

"Their bite is what threatens us most, they have venom that kills the shifter if the titan is bitten. There aren't enough of us to take it on, Berthold could, but his form is too slow to avoid a bite. It's likely that we will need to run… I need you to be prepared for me to grab you after I shift, Reiner will likely distract it while I collect everyone before his own egress." She spoke as if the plan had been practiced, likely even put to use.

Only halfway comprehending what Annie had outlined, Eren returned his sights to the threat at hand. It's breathing was heavy as it stared down to the group with terrifying black pools. But what he found most frightening was that the imp's gaze rested on Eren in particular; it knew exactly who he was.

The beast began what appeared to be a lunge less than a second before he and Annie were engulfed in the armored hand. Dizzying forces showed no mercy to them as two seconds disguised themselves as minutes. As quickly as it had begun, the grip released them to the ground, along with Berthold and Mikasa. By the time any of them could regain their bearings, the armored titan had turned around to re-engage the threat. But before Reiner could merely plan a defensive, his vision snapped black as an open-handed blow tore the armored head clean off his titan form.

As four faces found looks of utter disbelief, the titan hit the ground as it's head sailed over the horizon. Steam poured from the nape of the armored titan's neck as a roar that defied human understanding took hold of the air around them.

* * *

"Mikasa! Don't do it!" Eren screamed.

The dark female titan payed no mind to his plea as she charged the beast ahead. Suddenly he found his hand at his mouth.

"Eren! You can't stop that thing yet! Don't go out there" Cried Annie as she helped Berthold drag Reiner from his decaying titan form.

"People die when I hesitate!" Eren hissed before biting down.

Within seconds, a familiar roar invaded nearby ears as the rogue titan charged into the fight. But as Eren's vision took hold, he couldn't believe what it showed. There was no battle, there was no struggle, there was only two pairs of eyes peering his way. In a borderline relaxed manner, back to the enemy, the dark female stood still. It was as if she didn't notice the pair of teeth sunk into her shoulder, straight through her armor.

As the jaw released it's grip on her, Eren found himself standing still; stunned. His eyes refused to close, forcing him to watch as the dark female fell forward to the ground. As the titan began to burn to ash, his mind produced a thought:

'I'm too late again...'

The green glow of his eyes pointed only to one thing, nothing would pry them off her. He didn't notice Annies screams as they carved their way through the air that he neglected breath. He didn't notice Berthold and Reiner use every ounce of strength to hold the girl down as she tore holes in the earth trying to reach him. He didn't notice the venom shooting through his titan form as the imp sunk its teeth into his left arm. The only thing his mind had room for was the girl with the red scarf. Even as his titan began to rot around him, its eyes endured, unflinching as they gazed on.

As the rogue titan's knees hit the ground, steam erupted from it's nape. By the time the dissolving body rested on the soil, Eren's connections to the beast had all rotted off. No sooner than he was freed, his eyes returned to her as he slid off and onto the ground. He couldn't run, his body fell short of such stamina, yet getting to his destination wouldn't be made insurmountable. The boy traipsed as quickly as his poisoned body would respond to his will. He knew what lurked behind him, he knew the end of it all was in sight, and he knew it was all hopeless; yet he remained unrelenting. She never gave up on him, ever. He couldn't let it all end without at least saying goodbye.

So he continued his approach, ignoring those terrible screams, the crippling pain coursing through his body, and the footfalls behind him.

What Eren arrived to see couldn't be fully absorbed through vision alone. Atop a massive heap of smoking ash, she lied on her back. Her mouth spelled words with no voice, a thousand-yard-stare piercing the heavens above. Weak in the knees, he half collapsed next to the girl, sliding a hand under her head. Her skin was pale white, traced with inflamed blood vessels of dark blue, an advanced stage of his own worsening condition. As his intense gaze washed over his sister's face, it was all he could do to hold back tears. An unfamiliar feeling made it's way through his body. It was as if something in his chest twisted his heart and lungs. He couldn't help but wonder: 'Is this fear? Is this what every victim of the titans felt as they met their end? Is this what those who fought so hard for humanity felt as they gave their lives? Is this... what my mother felt?'

As tears fought their way to freedom, he could only string a few words together: "Mikasa. I'm… sorry." He said, clearing his nose. "I can't save us this time."

Slowly, her dark pools made their way to his. She had never looked at him in such a way; there was pain in her eyes. Eren could see through them, and what he saw could only be described as a struggle.

"Eren." Her lips made words as if staving off sleep. "I'm sorry I've had to do all these things."

Sobs erupted from the young man, but he did his best to regain his composure quickly. The finality of her tone sent chills to his core.

"All you had to do was explain yourself. You're my family… it's felt like I've lost your trust." The words barely escaped his mouth.

"No." Her lips spoke in the absence of breath. "It's the hardest thing I've ever done. But everything will make sense when you reach your father."

This time, for a moment, he had to turn his head as he released more sobs into his inner elbow.

"Mikasa… we're not going to…" With a pause, he shakily drew a deep breath. "This is just a setback, soon as we recover we'll finally see what Arrah is all about..."

Eren's body quaked with pain as he lied to her, every fiber of his being wished he could believe it himself.

"I'm sorry, Eren." She struggled to force the air over her lips as her eyelids slackened. "But this is as far as I can go. I… humanity needs you to keep the promise you made to me in Trost. You're going to save everyone, I know it." A tear escaped her eye as she blinked, sluggishly, it traversed her face.

Never had words stung Eren to his very soul, such that he bore no notice to the syringe as it flooded his body with a burning substance.

"No, Mikasa… It's not over, I'll carry you while you recover. Don't talk like that..." His words and breath sending tears through the air.

"Please forgive me - brother - I'll never stop loving you." Her eyes found their way back to the sky as her lungs released those final words. With no particular sign, time came to a halt. There were no sounds, no light or dark, no good or evil; only heat… a fierce heat.

"No, NO, NO!" Eren placed his finger to the girl's neck. "NO! We're not done! I need you! I don't want to die alone, MIKASA!" Placing both hands on her shoulders, he shook her forcefully, failing to believe what her lack of pulse had told him. His last resort was a heavy embrace as he pulled the girl up to him. Her head fell into his shoulder as he squeezed her close to him as hard as he could. He could only bury his face into her scarf as he violently cried. Somehow, uninterrupted, minutes passed.

Still on the sidelines, Annie, Berthold, and Reiner continued their struggle, all three of them beginning to tire. But out of nowhere, her furious exertion came to a sharp halt. Baffled, Reiner remained on top of her, motioning Berthold to see if she was conscious. Upon inspection, the young man found her eyes wide and focused, and slowly, Reiner and Berthold began to cast the same gaze. Amidst the struggle, all three of them had failed to notice what had begun transpiring ahead. Facing the crouching imp, eyes billowing with steam of tears, Eren was on his feet. On his mind was one thing.

A smile.

To some degree, Eren knew the imp was likely watching the two of them. But the smile… the creature was smiling as it watched the agony and death it had caused…

A wind began to stir as his eyes gave off warm red light. His hair and clothes fluttered as his stance remained unmoved. Lightning sounded off in the distance, signalling the coming rain, or rather, a storm.

* * *

A/N: Hopefully I conveyed the emotion of the scene half as well as I had hoped. I literally listened to the song Nutshell - by Alice in Chains over and over until I felt I had gotten it right. That song truly puts me in the shoes of someone hanging on by a thread above a sea of pain. Granted, heroin addictions don't quite compare to titans and death, but still…

I look forward to the reviews on this one, I've been excited to finally write it since 3 chapters ago. If you comment on Mikasa's death, I just ask that you refer to her as **** or something to avoid spoilers. Thanks for reading!

Also, I'm still looking for an artist I can commission for cover art, I'll keep you all updated as that endeavor progresses.


	10. 10 Slaughter

As the sky grew dark from storm clouds looming above, gusts of wind made impacts in all directions. At that point, Annie couldn't be sure if the source was weather or...

"He's going to do it this time…" The words passed her lips as but a whisper.

Blue eyes could only observe, she had only been told legends of the event unfolding ahead. By that point, Berthold and Reiner had released their hold on her as they found themselves lost in the spectacle taking shape. Yet, she remained on the ground, paralyzed. Was it fear? Awe?

Flames danced around the boy's face; furious, yet his skin remained unburned. Even his hair withstood the flames as they weaved throughout the strands of his bangs. Brighter and brighter, an amber glow began to radiate heat on Annie's face. It was like staring at the sun, the intensity grew to the point where only an outline of a young man made its way to her eyes. Heat waves distorted the image of his body, it seemed to radiate in all directions. Despite knowing full well that shifting into a titan defied what people know about physics equally, she couldn't help but wonder how he was generating so much energy. Even the wind was becoming strong enough to necessitate Annie to widen her stance for stability.

Giving her eyes a rest, the girl's attention shifted to the figure looming above Eren. The smile was gone; instead, the creature wore a bewildering expression. The look on the imp's face was not unfamiliar, it was a face she had seen people give off almost every day. What surprised her was seeing it in the eyes of an imp. Mania… no shifter had ever reported an imp display any sign of craze - any loss of composure whatsoever for that matter. Sure, they were the most dangerous living creatures on the planet, but they almost always wore a calm expression. They were bored children with an ant hill and magnifying glass, if anything. Yet, ahead of her crouched an imp with no idea what to do aside from raise it's fist and... It's fist!

"EREN!" The girl screamed as her feet found solid ground. "WATCH OUT!"

Her wail rearranged the air, despite heavy gusts doing their best to dampen her tone. While Berthold remained stunned, peering at the incredible ballet of flames engulfing Eren's form, Reiner noticed Annie's movement but alas, his outstretched hand caught nothing but air.

'He might not be ready, I need to buy him time!' She thought.

Sweat covered her body quickly as she drew closer, the heat began to burn her face. But it didn't matter, all she saw was the giant fist descending upon Eren. Her face and eyes would heal, all she could think of was pushing him out of harms way. Closer and closer she came, it felt like charging into an oven. The smell of burning skin and hair filled her nose… her skin and hair. Annie was unfazed, simply bursting ahead as her body burned.

'Almost there.' She thought, becoming frantic. 'Almost there!'

As her eyes began to fail, they delivered a final image of the giant fist mere centimeters from Eren.

She was too late…

What followed was absolutely terrifying; the earth rocked beneath her feet as a shockwave of sound nearly knocked her off them. Wind and sound blasted her entire body, the bun in her hair shook apart, even her clothing nearly tore apart.

'What is happening?'

Then, a sound that crushed Annie to the core: The loudest, most blood curdling scream she had ever heard. Too late...

* * *

"Berthold, snap out of it, dipshit!"

"Wh…"

"I know, we're all confused! But we need to stay alive long enough to make sense of it all! Snap the fuck out of it man!"

"Oww, Fuck!"

Berthold looked up from his knees, what surprised him most was how intact their surroundings were. It felt as if the Earth itself had been shaken apart, yet the only change of scenery was the mass of bloody…

"What the hell is that..." Berthold said below his breath.

"I don't know, man. Listen, you keep watch while I check on them, alright?" Reiner shouted, but with unease in his voice, his veil was clearly thinning.

This turned his attention to the figures at the center of the carnage. Clutched tightly in Annies arms, Eren was not awake… was he alive? Grasping enough of the situation to know his role, Berthold finally gave Reiner a blank-faced nod as he began scanning the vicinity for threats.

"Annie!" Reiner yelled as he sprinted up to her. "Is he breathing?! Are you alright?"

No response. The stout young man thought to repeat himself, but instead opted to circle around for a glimpse of her face. Blue eyes fired her gaze at the ground ahead of her as if it were a threat. Rain drops trickled down her face, some of them joined the steam as it emanated from her healing burns. But none of it phased her.

"Annie, we need to…"

"Did you see her?" Her voice was quiet, but it was enough to stop Reiner mid-sentence.

"Uh, you mean Mikasa? See her how?" He replied, scratching his soaked head.

Thunder rang across the horizon, but absent was the barrage of wind.

"She stopped right in front of that thing and turned her back to it…" Annie said, breaking her stare with the forming mud. Releasing her grip on the boy, she slid over, letting his head rest in her lap. She peered at the mess a few meters from them, watching as blood mixed with the collecting water.

"I figured she heard Eren transform and it distracted her."

"No. She was protective over him, but she was also the best strategist I've ever seen in action. She knew exactly what she was doing." Annie's words hotly trailed her thoughts.

"But why? Next to a coordinate, she was just about as strong as we come. What good is she dead now?" Reiner retorted.

"She… she knew. She knew what would happen. She knew what he needed to advance to the second plateau that his father was referring to. He must have needed a powerful emotional stimulus to awaken… that ability."

For a moment, Reiner shared her gaze toward the destroyed creature. Nothing was recognizable, he could only compare what he saw with the floor of a butcher shop. Red, blood soaked, and scattered masses of organic matter and fragments of bone and hair. He felt himself becoming nauseous, so he looked away and reverted his mind to the conversation.

"That's a bit of a stretch isn't it? How do you…" Reiner held his speech as Annie gave a nod toward something a few paces away.

The clouds masked most of the light as Reiner peered ahead, but he could see Mikasa's lifeless form clearly enough. It also took little time for him to see in particular what Annie was pointing out. Next to an outstretched hand in the mud was the syringe that Eren's father had left him; empty.

"Oh…." Reiner quelled his urge to chuckle, he was accustomed to missing such details. Such that his way of dealing with the weakness was to laugh it off.

"Annie… what the fuck was that? I mean, they told us about coordinates being able to kill imps with ease. But, that…" He paused to take a breath as he shuddered, mentally reviewing what he saw. Annie showed no sign of a response, so he continued. "I mean, I want all imps dead as much as anyone, but the way he… layers of flesh fell off that thing like rotting meat, and those screams… He butchered that thing alive, Annie, without lifting a finger!"

"He saved us, Reiner." Annie hissed, lifting her head up, glaring at the young man.

"I know! I know… I'm just in shock. I've seen, and caused, a lot of deaths. But, nothing has ever disturbed me like that." Reiner decided he had said enough, nothing seemed to come out right anyway. He simply stood and stared at the unrecognizable remains of what once took in excess of ten shifters and multiple casualties to kill.

* * *

"Eren!?"

The call hailed no response.

"Eren, you need to wake up! Where are you?"

Still nothing. Looking around, Annie could clearly see that Eren had worked hard on the dreamscape she found herself in. Birds chirped in the distance, the sun rested at high noon, oak leaves occasionally took flight in a light breeze. In the distance Annie could see the wall, and within sight was a gate to an outer district. Out of the corner of her eye, she picked up movement next to an oak tree atop a small hill. Proceeding toward the movement, she was able to make out two figures running around the tree.

Two kids, around nine or ten, chased one-another around as they laughed. Annie squinted as she approached, a detail stood out immediately; a familiar red scarf. It was no mental exercise to deduce that the other was Eren. Deciding not to come any closer, she sat atop a nearby log and simply watched.

Minutes passed, and just as Annie prepared to stand back up, a voice from behind:

"Wierd huh?"

Annie jerked around to find Eren standing behind her, eyes and face red, staring blankly at the two kids. His attire was similar to what he wore back in training during off-duty hours. His expression appeared loose, yet she could see that raw emotions lurked behind. He wasn't numb, it was quite the opposite; he lacked the ability to display what he felt.

"Seeing her smiling and laughing like that." He continued. "This was the last time I remember seeing her happy. Even as children, we were both so serious in our own ways…"

She took his presence in, then slowly returning her sights to the oak tree.

"That scarf… how long did she have it?" Annie finally asked.

"I gave it to her when we met…"

Suddenly, the sky went dark and the air grew cold. She found herself in a cabin, watching in horror as Eren's memories played out before her eyes. She watched the look in the young Mikasa's eyes change. It was as if the girl snapped into adulthood in an instant. Finally, as the young Eren wrapped the scarf around the girls neck, clarity flooded Annies thoughts.

"I'm sorry, it's easier to show you than to talk about it." Eren had joined her once more.

"No… I get it, words wouldn't have really told the whole story." Annie spoke, looking up at him, hiding her tears well.

"Have you ever lost someone, Annie?" He asked, doing his best to contain himself. "You're lucky, you know. You can shrug things off so well, even if it hurts, it's like you found a way to spare yourself emotional pain…"

"I…" Annie began, but stopped. For a moment, she was speechless, before finally grabbing the boy's hand. As she meshed her fingers with his, she answered:

"Yes."


	11. 11 Regret

**Before you read: I'm sorry this one is so short and so long overdue. I've grappled with this one for weeks, I had trouble putting it together because I wasn't happy with where I took the last chapter. So I went back and changed it around and refined what I left intact. So it will be to your benefit to reread Ch10 before you start this one. For the most part, things are back on track, but I have come to the conclusion that I need to go back and refine the entire story. I have a 4 day weekend and will be working on it throughout, my quality has been suffering and I hope I can get this story back to the level that I expect from myself. Most heavily I'll be working on chapter 1, only 1 in 4 people continue to chapter 2.**

**That brings me to this: I'm looking for anyone interested in beta-reading chapters before I post them. This whole project is proving a bit ambitious for my novice creative writing skills. Any help will be properly credited :)**

**Lastly, I found an artist for the cover photo! I'm not sure when she will be done, but for now I've posted my initial sketch as the cover art to give an idea of what the finished product will be. Thanks for waiting and, with your continued patience, things should be picking up from here :D**

* * *

"Reiner… are they alright?"

Through the downpour, Berthold watched as the narrow set of eyes met his.

"Yeah, they're doing that trance-dream shit again." Reiner replied, clearly annoyed.

"Oh." Berthold said as he returned his sight to the other two. Eren remained lying on his side, head atop Annie's lap while she slumped forward in her state. Reiner had perched himself close by in case either of them were to fall into the growing puddles around them.

Minutes of mutual silence passed before Berthold spoke again. "I'm sorry."

Reiner once again met the young man's gaze; the two wore their pain on their sleeves, if only for a moment.

"Don't be," Reiner replied. "She's the last person I could have fooled."

A bolt of lightning saturated the sky, followed closely by the monstrous sound it had left behind. The two boys looked up to the bleeding clouds, in their own ways wishing the rain would dilute their thoughts. Nothing remained unsaid, they shared a nod as they began their wait.

* * *

"Harder!"

A muffled 'Thump' echoed throughout the trees, several birds took flight in response. Rays of sunlight trickled through the forest canopy, illuminating the two figures Eren watched from afar.

"Not good enough! Harder!"

Accompanying the encore of the sound came a cry: "HA!"

"Shut your mouth! Silence is your best weapon! Now, harder!"

Mouth agape, Eren felt a heat building in his gut.

'Seven… maybe eight years old… she's barely up to his waist.' He thought

"Harder!"

*Thump*

"Your form is slipping! Wake up!"

*Thump*

"Harder, dammit Annie!"

*Thump*

"HARDER"

*Thump*

A different, far more chilling sound filled the air, what followed was pure silence. Just like that, breathing ceased, his eyes widened, and his heart lulled. Only one sense continued to serve him, but Eren wished it hadn't. All too clearly, his eyes followed the child's flight path before she met the earth once again. Time moved with no urgency, clarifying the ripples that made their way across her face as it met the ground. Although barely a full meter, he felt as if she would never stop sliding. But it was her face that brought him to his knees.

Eyes wide, but fixated on no particular object. It was a look of near complete mental absence, but Eren could see pain in her eyes. The girl, while in complete shock, could still feel every ounce of pain.

As he lost his composure and found his feet moving beneath him, her voice cleanly cut his intentions apart:

"This was the morning after my mother passed away."

The boy stopped, caught between her words and the sight before him. His heart felt as if it couldn't survive more emotional pain, personal or otherwise. Tears began to find their way across his face.

"It was business as usual… he told me the night before and then locked me in my room. This was his idea of mourning, he told me to use bad feelings to my advantage. He taught me how to bottle and use it as fuel, but I never learned how to just… feel."

Eren turned to face her as the figments before him vanished, she stared distantly with a certain focused appearance. No emotion showed through her face or words, yet he could feel it all somewhere inside her, locked away.

"Annie, I.."

"Do you know why I was first drawn to you, Eren?" She interrupted, meeting his gaze.

"Uh, I don't think so."

"The truth is; I envy you. You're the embodiment of what I wish I could be; you not only feel strong emotions, but you are driven by them. My feelings are nothing but a fuel source, but yours are your purpose. I don't have a purpose beyond bringing you home, Eren. Once that's done… I don't know how to live without a purpose."

The girl paused a moment to take a breath, her eyes changed as she kept them on Eren.

"But when I'm around you I get small tastes of what emotions feel like when they are unbound, I can suddenly let them play out instead of burying it all. I get these flashes of what it's like to fear, to lose, to love… I don't want it to stop, Eren, you're slowly showing me how to feel again…" She sobbed and wiped a tear from her eye as Eren approached her. "What I'm trying to say is: I know it hurts, but don't take this pain for granted, you have no idea what it's like to feel noth..."

Her words were cut short as air was forced from her lungs, it was almost painful. Eren held her tighter than she had ever been embraced. She felt him shudder as he broke down, her arms found their way to his back. They both stood alone in the empty, dark void, she was still learning how to build dreamscapes and let her forest slip away amidst the turmoil. But none of that mattered, she actually understood what he was feeling. A few tears left her own eyes as she noted her own two shared a silence, they shared their pain.

Annie knew that her objective was to comfort Eren, but she found herself lost in herself. The concept of up and down seemed to vanish. It was as if she could float away if she were to let go of the boy, yet she didn't really feel dizzy. Her feet still supported her weight but somehow there was no gravity at all.

Eren did his best to limit his tears as he squeezed the small girl, but it proved difficult as he replayed the events again and again. The glimpse of Annie's upbringing didn't exactly bring him peace either. He needed to distract himself, and he had plenty to say:

"Nothing is one-sided, Annie" He whispered in her ear as he throttled back his sobs. "You envy what I want to change about myself, but it's a two-way street. I do feel everything, but I'm at the mercy of it. I'm not falling for you because you're charming, It's because you offer me balance, you compliment where I fall short. You may not need anyone, you may not need me, but I'm glad that you are getting something from me."

Annie was overwhelmed. Falling for her… She didn't know what she could say, she wasn't sure how she felt at all. She needed an out.

"Eren, we need to wake up…" She almost stumbled over her words. Annie felt regret flood her entire body as soon as she said it.

She felt his arms loosen and release her, and reluctantly, she did so as well. He stepped back, but still faced her. She was afraid to see his face, what kind of disappointment would she find in his eyes. Slowly, she built her resolve and looked up from his shirt: Fear. He was terrified, why? She studied him closely, trying to string together her next words. But it was Eren who spoke first:

"I…" His voice broke. "Annie, I miss my sister…"

He fell to his knees as the words cleared his lips, his face did not change at all. His gaze bore right through Annie, it was terrifying, what awaited him when he woke up? Eren felt like he would rather spend the rest of his life there, hiding. He felt his hand being lifted from his lap, his eyes freed themselves from their trance to find pools of blue looking down at him. Her face was blank as ever, yet it somehow offered comfort.

"You should tell her."


	12. 12 Path

"Keep clear." Said Annie.

Reiner issued a look of defiance, but dared not act on it. She was far more serious than her tone gave away. He turned his attention to the boy who stood silently, gazing down upon the fallen shifter.

"What went on in there?" He asked, almost afraid of her response.

"He cared for her more than any of us would have thought… let's just say she had her reasons for the way she guarded him. Just give him his space right now."

"... uh, alright." He replied, turning his head skyward.

The rain had finally stopped, leaving only lightning bolts firing in the distance. The air smelled of copper and moisture, it was unpleasant but bearable.

"We've only got another hour before dawn, Annie" Berthold chimed softly.

"I know," Annie replied. "But he needs this, trust me."

Her words invited a strange look from both young men.

"I won't lie," Reiner asked. "hearing that from you is strange."

Berthold said nothing but nodded slightly in agreement as Reiner watched her blue eyes lock on him. Knowing he had struck a chord, he prepared himself for a potential attack. His instinct was correct as it was useless: Before he knew what had happened, the back of his head was colliding with mud. As liquid began to suffuse his hair and clothing, his neck was met firmly by Annies knee. All he could do was look up into the eyes that could burn holes right through him. But gone was the anger in her face, instead she wore a look of pity… He wasn't sure which he despised more.

"Reiner," She spoke softly, but audible. "Make no mistake; every person you will ever meet has something to hide. You would be wise not to go calling anyone out when we can all see how terrified you are, hiding behind your strong-man facade."

At first, Reiner returned the very look Annie had expected: shock. But what came next was completely unforeseen. Fingers dug into her left thigh above his neck, as she reached down to counter she felt his other hand take hold of her right upper arm. She was too late to react, as she was pulled to the ground she could only look back in dismay at the raging young man. She had never seen him lose his temper like that, it was almost frightening. As her back made contact with the mud, Reiner had already made the mount and pinned down both of her elbows.

"Who the fuck are you to talk to me like that?!" He screamed, face turning red with fury. "So what if I _am _scared? Do you not remember that we were children? It was just _us_, Annie! Three children, sent all alone to kill thousands of people and then live among them."

The girl could only look up at him, stunned, as spittle periodically struck her face. Reiner's eyes were beginning to water, but he wasn't nearly finished.

"I _acted,_ God damnit! I buried my fear, I put my needs aside, because my comrades needed me. I did what I had to do to support you and Berthold. And what did you do?! You left us… You checked out, you abandoned us to protect yourself! I'm not ashamed of being afraid, I ALWAYS put my friends first. But you… You're the real coward, Annie, not me. If your feelings for Eren are real, I truly hope you've learned to feel shame as well."

"Who's turn is it to shift for our travels?"

Every ounce of tension in the air suddenly slackened as everyone's attention shifted to the source of the words. Holding Mikasa's lifeless form, Eren stood stoically, eyes arbitrary focused. Silence permeated through the atmosphere like water in a sponge. As Reiner released his hold on Annie and stood, Berthold answered the question:

"Annie's… why?"

Eren ignored the question and turned to Annie, who had sat up to look him over. She wore the expression of someone who had just been powerfully humbled, but gave him her full attention nonetheless.

"Annie, could you do something for me?" His words wore a mixture of coldness and despair.

"Yeah -What is it?"

"Since you'll have to shift soon anyway, could you…" Choking on his words, he took a moment to compose himself, to fight his captive tears. But Annie knew exactly what he was asking.

Lightning carved its way to where she stood, blinding Berthold and Reiner, who had been incidentally looking in her direction. First a framework of bones, followed hotly by muscle and tissue, and seconds later her titan form stood complete. As steam dissipated at her feet, she kneeled down across from Eren. The titan placed a finger to the ground in front of him as she shot him a questioning look. He gazed up at giant blue eyes as he issued her a solemn nod of approval. With that, Annie begun to carve a pit in the ground before him.

As he watched her make short work of the task, the finality of it all began to set in, but he was done crying. Less and less energy was required to hold back his tears until there were none left to fight. He felt a pressure on his shoulder, Reiner's hand. Eren looked back at him to find apologetic eyes as the young man spoke.

"Eren, can we help you lower her in?"

"Y-yeah, thanks." Eren replied meekly.

After the three young men carefully placed the girl into the grave, Reiner and Berthold climbed out while Eren stayed behind. Kneeling down beside the girl, he released a long sigh.

"I took you for granted, Mikasa… I'm so sorry. I wish you hadn't done this, but I promise you that this won't have been in vain. I will tear apart every single one of them, their blood will stain the earth red. A day is coming where imps and titans learn the fear we've lived under all these years. They will never even know the luxury of cowering behind a wall, nothing will hide them from me" He snarled, beginning to breathe heavily.

Eren noticed an amber glow shining on the girl. Upon realizing himself to be the source, the boy took a deep breath and closed his eyes. A stark reminder how little he knew of his own abilities. After a moment, he opened his eyes again and placed something atop her chest: An empty syringe wrapped in his mother's piece of cloth. Eren then lifted her scarf over her mouth and gently kissed her cold forehead before standing up. Accepting a hand from Berthold and Reiner, he made his ascent before turning around to see her one last time.

"I miss you, my sister, my.. family." He spoke almost under his breath.

The boy gave a nod to Annie, who began to carefully push the displaced earth to whence it came. As she smoothed the surface of the grave site, Eren turned his attention to the other two boys. His eyes were wide yet calm, he spoke in a tone of borderline urgency.

"Let's get far away from here.. Let's get to Arrah."

* * *

"Fresh air, I'll never take it for granted again!" Reiner cheered, finally freed of the putrid stench of a rotting imp.

Berthold peered at the twilight ahead as the wind filled his hair, maintaining his stoic demeanor.

"Are we close enough to travel by day? I don't see anything familiar." Berthold asked.

"Yeah, it's risky but we're home free. At Annies pace we'll be at the gates by noon."

"Home…" Berthold muttered.

"Can you believe it!? After everything, we're finally going home, man!" Reiner exclaimed.

"What's home anymore…" The quiet shifter muttered, barely breaking through the wind with his voice.

"What's wrong?" Reiner asked, concerned.

"I barely remember it… what if it doesn't feel like home anymore? Five years, Reiner… it didn't sound like such a long time when they trained us, but that was before we saw humankind for ourselves. They're just like us… scared and isolated. I'm as connected to them as I am to Arrah, but I feel like neither is my home…"

"You want the truth, Berthold?"

"There's no such thing as truth. It's all relative…" Berthold scoffed.

"Home is just an idea, you decide where your home is. You may have lost the connection you once felt with this place, but the people there never stopped thinking about you. I'm no more proud of what we've had to do over the years than you are. But we did those things for the sake of humans and titans alike. We are on our way to be welcomed as heroes, as warriors… This is where it all pays off, this is where our lives turn around." Reiner himself felt compelled to pause, reality was sinking in. The culmination of everything lied ahead, he found it surreal.

"Reiner, did you mean those things you said to Annie?"

Reiner snapped from his daydream and found Berthold's stare awaiting him. The dark haired shifter had fear in his eyes.

"I did." He finally answered, breaking eye contact to glance toward the titan's face. She didn't seem to be listening to them but he decided to assume that she was.

"Then you must feel even more ill thoughts toward me…"

"What?" Reiner asked. "No! It's not the same thing."

"I became far more useless as time went on, she may have started to slip but I'm the legitimate basket case."

"Let me explain something to you: You can't help how your mind reacted to what we've had to do. But her… she closed herself off to protect _herself. _She made a choice, you didn't. Nobody blames you for suffering emotional damage, we all have it, it affected us all differently. Let's not kid ourselves, the three of us will be fucked up in the head for life. But there's nowhere to go but forward, it's the only option there ever is."

"You may be right, I just wish I were stronger. I miss how things used to be."

* * *

A/N: Thanks for hanging in there for the soap opera chapters! Next chapter will be long, it will be Arrah :)

Potential spoilers below:

Cyborg: That line is mean to hint at Reiner having feelings for Annie while also indicating that he knew she wasn't fooled by his adaptation of Berthold's former personality. I am huge on subtext so be on the lookout guys!


	13. 13 Arrah: Part 1

**Ch 13 Arrah: Part 1**

"Eren, wake up!"

The words stirred the boy, slowly parting his eyes as they adjusted to the bright sun above.

'Where is this?' He wondered as he took in his surroundings. He was still lying in Annie's open hand, the same position he fell asleep in. Looking up, he found the source of the voice. Standing atop the female titan's shoulder, slightly in front of Berthold, was Reiner. The blonde-headed shifter maintained is sight on Eren as he tapped his right foot.

"You lazy shit! Come on, we're here!" Reiner hollered down, smiling like an idiot.

"Here… he doesn't mean…" Eren muttered to himself as he sat up to look around.

What he found amazed and confused him simultaneously. Ahead of them lied water as far as he could see. Aside from an island in the distance, the water seemed endless. He had never seen such a thing but had heard legends of huge bodies of water. Books that Armin had shown him as a boy described such wonders but nothing really prepared Eren for the scale of what sat ahead. Peering down showed him that Annie was standing in the water, slight amounts of steam rose from where the cold water met her knees. As he looked back, he realized that he had been hoisted to shoulder level. Taking the hint, the boy hopped across the gap, joining the other two.

Eren inspected the coast behind them but observed no signs of civilization. From left to right, several meters of sand and rocks gave way to a dense forest which lined the beach. He turned his attention to his companions, both of whom looked out to the ocean.

"It's incredible, but you had me thinking we had arrived. How much further is it, do you need me to run the rest of the way?" Eren spoke as he shook off his grogginess.

Reiner's hand struck Eren's far shoulder almost painfully as he felt himself pulled close to the larger boy. With his free hand, Reiner pointed to the distant island.

"This is it! We're right on it!" He cheered as he released Eren. "But you have to be awake for this, Annie needs both arms free."

"I never picked up on Arrah being an island, how far of a swim is it?" Eren asked.

"A few kilometers, speaking of…" Reiner briefly held his speech as the titan began to move deeper into the water. "We're gonna have to shift positions, just follow my lead here."

Eren watched as Reiner grabbed a lock of the titan's hair and brought both feet to her neck as he hung. Locking onto another handful of the thick, blonde strands, he made his way to the back of the neck where he settled and waited for Eren and Berthold. Instantly reminded of pre-3DM training on repelling vertical faces, Eren followed suit. The massive strands of hair were a bit more unnerving to work with than ropes and carabiners, but he felt no danger of losing grip. The female titan began to shift to a horizontal position as Berthold joined the two other boys.

"Hold on tight, Yeager!" Reiner warned

"Wh…" Eren nearly lost his hold on Annies hair as a violent burst of acceleration threatened to tear him away. He had only just regained his grip as a second, more civilized surge pulled him rearward. After learning the pattern of the forces he found himself subject to, he looked over to the water and found himself stupefied.

"How the fuck…" His words trailed off, but Berthold seemed to understand what Eren was having trouble with.

"Titan bodies are not as dense as our human form, they float much better on water. For that same reason we can swim very quickly. Myself excluded, most shifters can swim much faster than they can run. The downside is that skinless forms like hers can't stay in the water for too long before they lose too much heat and fail."

"Is she in danger then?!" Eren yelled back in concern.

"Cool it, loverboy." Reiner called with a laugh. "We're already halfway there, she know's what she's doing."

'Halfway there? Already?' Eren thought as he peered down at the blue of water rushing by. 'We must be doing over 100 kpm…'.

He couldn't see over the titan's massive head, but he could see the island expanding on either side. It didn't appear to be an ordinary, graduated island. There was no beach portion to speak of, only what seemed like hundred-meter cliffs with scattered rocks below. It was only speculation, but the island seemed to span around ten kilometers wide, but how long? More importantly; would they need to climb those cliffs?

"Hey, is she going to climb that?" Eren asked.

"I'm glad you asked!" Reiner said, sporting his trademark grin. "How long can you hold your breath?"

Eren needed no further explanation as, almost on cue, Annie ceased her strokes and glided to a stop in the water. Berthold spoke up:

"Alright, Reiner will be counting us down, when he gets to 'three': take a deep breath and hold it. Since titan bodies are so buoyant, she'll be swimming hard and the current will be intense. So hold on as tight as you can, if you get pulled away it's likely that you'll drown before you reach the surface again. If that happens, you need to shift, you don't need air in titan form. When Reiner starts counting, take a few deep breaths before your final one, it will help you last longer. Am I making sense?"

Eren halfway nodded before speaking: "How long will we be underwater?"

"About a minute and a half," Said Reiner. "Just try to stay relaxed and only focus on your grip, you'll be fine. Are you ready?"

Eren's response was blunt and determined: "Yeah, let's go."

"Annie!" The stout young man shouted. "One!"

*Inhale*

"Two!"

*Exhale*

"Three!"

*Gasp*

Thousands of tiny daggers seemed to permeate Eren's entire body, it took his pooled willpower to hold the air in his lungs. But there was no time to adjust as water surged over his face with a force that threatened to pull his eyes open. And this time, there was no decline in current to speak of. Each rush of movement was as powerful as the last. He wanted to open an eye to get his bearing but worried that the pressure would force it to the back of his skull. Suddenly the cliffs didn't seem so bad.

* * *

*Gasp* "Ugh! Fucking gross!" Eren spat, after finally catching his breath.

Berthold and Reiner, both out of breath as well, shared a short laugh.

"Sorry," Berthold said matter-of-factly. "It didn't really occur to us that you haven't been in salt water before."

"Salt water… Armin's book was right then."

"Huh?" Reiner asked, eyebrow arched slightly.

"Nothing…"

"Dipshit." Reiner muttered dismissively.

But Eren ignored the boy's charming people skills as he stood to explore his new surroundings. Somewhat dark, but enough illumination came from the ceiling of the cavern. An opening at the center shot light directly to a glass orb suspended from the ceiling. The setup seemed to be built for distributing light throughout the room, it was rather clever. Working his way down, Eren made not of the dimensions of the area. Judging by the surfaces, they stood in a naturally formed cave. The only alterations that stood out to him were the lighting system and the uniformly flattened ground, it wasn't a finished floor, but refined nonetheless.

Behind them was the pool of water from which they'd emerged. The ceilings were high enough for Annie to stand fully upright, the room itself spanning twenty meters wide and forty long. At the end of the room were three paths; an open passage and two doors. One door was massive, around five meters high and five wide, the other door, like the passageway, stood at a standard scale. No sooner than Eren made mental notes, he watched as the female titan opened the large door, crawled through, and shut the door behind her.

"Hey, where's she going?" Eren enquired.

"Egress creates a lot of smoke," Berthold began. "We have specialized rooms that dissipated it all."

"Oh, yeah I guess that makes sense. I suppose it would build up underground like this pretty quick." Eren surmised, somewhat impressed with the sophistication of their procedures.

"Well, while that's also true, the biggest reason is scent. Titans and imps can smell us and are also drawn to the sight of the smoke that our remains give off. Smoke from that room is pumped through machines that break it down with the chemical that your father invented."

Eren stared blankly for a moment. "Wow, and you said you guys were all nomads twenty years ago?"

"Well," Reiner wore a smug grin as he responded. "Imagine what the people within the wall could build if every one of them could shift into a titan."

"Uh… makes sense." Erens words seemed to fall flat off his lips as he processed such a foreign idea. But the clang of the smaller door handle drew him from his daze.

Smoke briefly escaped the doorway as Annie traipsed out, shutting the door behind herself. The girl momentarily leaned against the door before looking up at her comrades and starting toward them. Eren, seeing her fatigue began a brisk walk in her direction. Both of them stopped when they reached one another.

"Hey… You gonna be alright? You look pretty beat." Eren spoke with care, but made a point of not patronizing the girl.

Shooting him a quick half-smile, her reply was sharp: "Talking to yourself?"

"You're shivering" Eren noted, unfazed. He unbuttoned and removed his top as he approached her.

"I'm fine."

Eren ignored her as he draped the garment over her shoulders. After delivering a peck on the girl's cheek, he issued his retort:

"Shut up, Annie."

As Reiner finished his chuckle at the exchanged he had just witnessed, a growing sound invited the attention of all four shifters.

Footsteps.

Echoing through the passageway, the distortion of the distant footfalls slowly gave way to a clear sound. Jogging toward them was a lone man of moderate build and short blonde hair. He looked to be in his late twenties, he wore the same style of uniform that the shifters had given Eren, and his expression was of concern and seriousness. Eren surmised that, despite the man holding nothing resembling a weapon, he was likely a guard tasked with watching the entrance. This was all but confirmed when the man stopped several paces from the group and shouted:

"Identify yourse…" Stopping mid sentence, his eyes grew wide.

Eren was no expert at reading lips but felt relatively certain that the guard mouthed the words:

'Holy shit, it's them… they really made it.'

* * *

A/N: Hope you guys like this chapter, it's nice to move forward finally. I dug myself into a character development hole that took a few chapters to climb out of. But now that we know who these people are, hopefully it will enrich the plot. It may take me a while to pump out the next chapter. Between weekend work and the fact that I have to invent a few new characters. But I am having fun developing Arrah, since it's so mysterious in the series I can really stretch my legs as far as concepts and mechanics go. Anyway, criticism is always encouraged, particularly now. Reviews have slowed down and I'm hoping to win back anyone whose jumped ship. I better stop rambling, inflating my word count too much. Thanks for reading!


	14. 14 Arrah: Part 2

"So many questions!" Reiner shouted at the guard.

Eren looked the man over as he and Reiner spoke about changes in Arrah over the preceding years. He wore a calm expression but Eren could see that he was battle-hardened. But why, was he more than a guard? He remembered Annie pointing out the flaws in the system the humans used in their military, perhaps shifters used a different one?

As he pondered what awaited him ahead, he began to wonder just how long the tunnel they were travelling was. It was fairly cramped, averaging two meters high and wide, with wavering variances. Eren wasn't sure what type of rock it had been carved through, but it seemed easily as hard as concrete as he grazed his fingers on the walls. Further perplexing were the damp sections of the tunnel, saturated from ceiling to ground. He decided a talk with Annie was overdue.

'Hey, are you there?' He asked, approached her in the void.

'Yeah.' She replied, showing him no physical attention as the group walked.

'So, are we below Arrah right now?'

'Something like that… We're below the outskirts right now, it's mostly forest and farmland.' Her reply came off as uneasy at best.

'Something wrong?' Eren asked.

'No… It's just weird being home. Anyway, we still have to travel by boat to the capital.'

'Oh, what happens when we get there?'

'We debrief the council, then.. I would assume you'll be questioned about your loyalties...'

'My loyalties?'

'You're the coordinate, Eren. Your father will carry a lot of weight, but I'm sure they'll want to speak to you themselves. They can't put the fate of Arrah in your hands if they have doubts.'

'Yeah, I guess not. So this council, what do they do? Are they the government?'

'It's complicated,' Annie began, somewhat struggling to remember the details herself. 'Every job here falls under a general category; Educators, Engineers, Farming, Warriors, Police… People within each of those categories vote for a person to represent them, respectively. Those electees form the Council of Arrah. I won't bore you with what they can and can't do, but they basically govern the city and make most important decisions.'

'Huh, that makes sense. Sounds more fair than a royal family.'

'It works here, people have a voice.'

Abruptly, Eren and Annie's mental exchange was cut short as the guard's attention turned to Eren.

"I don't remember you at all… when did you pass through here to leave?"

"I'm" Eren began, somewhat uncomfortable. "from within the walls."

The man cocked an eyebrow at Eren's answer, his face flooded with confusion and uneasiness. Everyone had stopped walking, all eyes rested between Eren and the guard.

"So, you're… human?" The man slowly asked.

"Well, I guess I used to be…" He trailed off, not entirely sure himself what the answer was.

"Wait, you're not… No way. No fucking way." The guard's eyes darted to the other shifters, one by one, as all three of them issued a nod of confirmation. "HOLY SHIT! Holy shit." He trailed off as he took a step toward Eren. "What's it like? What does it feel like to…"

"Listen." Annie's voice sliced right through the guard's inquisition. "With all due respect, sir, he's still green with it, those aren't the best questions to ask right now. Also, when we get to town, we're going to have to ask you not to draw any attention to him. That kind of thing wouldn't help any of us, make sense?"

"Errr, yeah. It does… And no need for the formalities, the four of you will no doubt outrank me by sunset. But I won't be accompanying you to town." The man replied, making his best effort to quell his excitement.

"What do you mean?" Reiner asked. "Who will bring the ferry back here once we get to the other side?"

"It's something I'll just have to show you."

* * *

Finally, the tunnel widened into a tall chamber. As he entered, Eren looked down to find a flight of stairs leading down to a canal of water. To his left was a massively tall tunnel, dimly illuminated with a blue light from deep within. To his right was a balcony of sorts overlooking the canal, at the corner of which was a small doorway.

"Where's the ferry? And… when did the tunnel get so tall?" Reiner asked, scratching his head.

"Well, you see, about three years ago there was a revolution in transportation. I think you guys in particular will like it… you were trained in Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear within the walls, right?"

"Yeah, but they're not meant for public transportation…" The broad shifter quipped.

"Come on, I'll show you." The guard said with a half-grin as he grabbed a torch off the wall and lit it before proceeding to the dark room.

As they made their way into the room, the only contents seemed to be a row of eight wall lockers.

"Pick a locker and suit up!" The man said cheerfully.

Reiner was the first to investigate, opening the locker nearest to him. After reaching in, he withdrew the familiar harness to a set of 3DM gear. With a shrug, he began removing his shoes and top to put it on. With that, the other's picked their respective lockers and followed suit.

Upon donning his harness, Eren noticed something missing from the locker.

"Hey…" Eren began.

"Ivan." The guard said. "Sorry, I guess I never did introduce myself."

"Oh, I'm Eren, nice to meet you.." Eren said, shaking Ivan's hand. "Anyway, the sheaths are missing. I figured they aren't especially useful to a city of shifters, but where will the canisters be mounted without them?"

"Right! We mount the canisters on the back, it's actually much easier for general mobility that way."

"I see…" Eren replied as he continued mounting his equipment.

From nowhere, he found his face covered in fabric. As he pulled the garment off his head, he recognized it as the top he had draped over Annie. Looking over at her, she had already resumed affixing her gear. Eren grinned a bit as he continued his assembly as well.

With little trouble, the band of shifters helped each other mount canisters on their backs. Once everyone had their 3DM gear mounted and adjusted, Ivan requested their attention.

"Aside from the lack of sheaths, there's one other fundamental difference than what you guys are used to. Go ahead and activate your maintenance release on your ejectors…" Ivan briefly waited while they all did so. "As you can see, in place of each hook is an entirely different apparatus."

Eren inspected the strange device while the guard explained it to them. Slightly larger than the standard hooks, it opened and closed in a different manner. At it's base, where the wire connected, was a hinge connecting two sides to the device. One side extended out and around, making a hole around the other, at its end was a small pulley. The other side curved around similarly, blocking the pulley when the device closed.

"Throughout the city are public zip lines, these trolleys are designed to latch on to the lines when fired. When they strike the desired line, momentum snaps them shut onto it. Everything else works the same, the release button for the hooks release your respective trolley from the wire. Just don't forget about the changes, you'll be fucked if you fire these things into a wall or something out of habit. Anyway, I have to stay here at my post, but the lines into town are up there. Just climb that ladder until you're in range, then fire away!"

"Thanks Ivan." Berthold said with a grateful nod.

"I'm glad you guys made it back. And you, Eren; if what I heard about coordinates is true… thank you for standing with us.. with Arrah." Ivan spoke with genuine, passionate gratitude as he issued what appeared to be a formal salute. He stood straight, one hand flat at his side, the other raised to his forehead with his palm flat and facing outward.

Eren had been rendered speechless, he could only return with a solemn nod as he cleared his throat. Ivan, who seemed to understand Eren's awkward response, shot a smile at the group of shifters as he turned and walked toward the underwater entrance they had came.

"This new setup is going to be weird." Reiner said as he headed for the ladder in the room.

"Yeah, I feel like I'm liable to retract and refire out of habit and fall." Eren added as he mounted to climb behind him.

Berthold and Annie said nothing, both of whom averse to small talk as they'd ever been. For the rest of the ascent, nobody had anything to say at all. Looking down as they reached the top of the ladder, Eren estimated their height to be at least 35 meters or so. He next joined his comrades in their focus: four cables fastened to the wall above them, each parallel with the other, leading into the dark tunnel their ladder faced. To Eren, unfamiliar with what awaited on the other end, it was somewhat spooky. After a brief pause, Reiner spoke up:

"Alright chickenshits, I guess I'll go first!"

Without delay the familiar sound echoed throughout the chamber.

*POP*

Reiner's cable unwound as the silver bit of machined metal could barely be traced through the relative darkness.

*Clank*

Peering up at the cable, Eren could vaguely see that the device had indeed locked on. With a quickness, the whirring sound of winding cable filled the chamber.

"Hold on Reiner!" Eren called.

But his warning was in vain, the stocky shifter was already lifting off the ladder. Reiner realized his error after the point of no return.

"Shit shit shit shit!" He called as he picked up speed down the line.

The other shifters shook their heads as they watch him, hanging sideways from the right hip, disappear into the tunnel. His curses echoed back to them, more and more faint as he traveled away. Without one line affixed to a solid object, it was not possible to properly aim the other.

"Well," Berthold began with a sigh. "I guess I'll make sure he makes it down without further incident."

The lanky shifter turned himself around on the ladder and fired his left trolley. Upon latching to the far right cable, he reeled in the slack before firing his right. His second shot was as successful as the first, affixing to the next cable over, and in no time he had equalized the tension on both trolleys. With a plume of air from his nozzle, he raced into the darkness, only Eren and Annie remained.

"Hey, are you going or what?" Annie called up to him, impatient.

Only somewhat caught off guard, Eren swung to one side of the ladder and peered down to the girl.

"Maybe you should go next, he did that so fast I didn't follow every move…" He called.

"Seriously?" She muttered with a sigh as she began climbing.

Mentally, she actually questioned what she normally saw in Eren. To her, such incompetence should've been beneath him. Shooting him a disapproving glare as she climbed past him, her ascent was cut short as his hand took hold of her arm. A moment later he had turned her toward him and wrapped the same arm around her torso.

"What are.."

Her brief confusion was silenced and answered concurrently as warm lips connected to hers. Suddenly, Annie's confusion regarding her attraction to Eren was cut to size once more. As the familiar feelings surged through her very blood, it served as a stern reminder of the events that forced them dormant in the first place. Eren Yeager: The only person in the world who could make her feel small - safe.

Although their kiss lasted mere seconds, it was exactly what Annie needed… what both of them needed. Eren slowly withdrew with a smile, Annie caught herself before a grin could appear on her face before looking back toward the ladder. As she began to climb again, two 3DM shots fired from below her. She had time enough to catch a glimpse of Eren dismounting the ladder before his boost nozzle left clouds of gas in his wake.

"Last one down's an asshoooooole" He called as he vanished into the dark tunnel.

With a laugh of disbelief, Annie muttered fitting words: "That little shit."

With a quick two shots, the girl was off as well on the adjacent set of wires. Annie didn't know how to feel about finally being home… but she did look forward to seeing the look on Eren's face when she beat him to the bottom.

* * *

A/N: Took a minute to think of where I wanted to go, but once I nailed it down this chapter wrote itself! Sorry if you're not into technical details, but Arrah is deceptively expansive, I'll be explaining a ton of things in the coming chapters. I promise to do my best to mix it all in without lagging the plot.

There may be a few more errors than usual, I'm tired but I wanted to get this out tonight! I'll be combing through it tomorrow as well as taking suggestions from any "beta readers", who will be credited in the edit for their input :)

**OOOH YEAH!:** Cover image came through! You can find the full size one through my profile! The particular artist has an interesting take on noses, but she really nailed the lighting and rain!


	15. 15 Arrah: Part 3

'It seems so endless.'

Eren had to squint his eyes, because of the darkness and the wind. Normal 3DM operation could never generate such speeds, let alone sustain them. All skepticism was thoroughly slain as he struggled to keep his eyes open, travelling well over 60 kilometers per hour. He considered laying off his boost trigger, but, with a grin, he remembered his friendly challenge to a frightening girl.

If he had to guess, he had been on the move for two or three minutes and still saw no sign of the end. Every few moments, a blueish-white glow would appear, only turning out to be another of those strange glass orbs on the ceiling. Eren could hear nothing behind or ahead of him, which he deemed a good thing given the speed of his travel. With the limited light, all he could do was hope that Reiner and Berthold hadn't experienced a jam of some sort ahead of him. This brought to light a potential downside to the 3DM zip line approach: There really wasn't an efficient way to slow down in a pinch.

'Annie, you get started without incident?' He called to her mentally.

'Yeah, but there'll surely be an incident when I get my hands on you.'

Annie's reply left Eren unsure just how playful she was being… if at all. But, being a regular tempter of fate, he ignored the less desirable of possibilities.

'I can't even hear you back there! I might have an unfair weight advantage, gravity is on my side you know.' He shot back, although he had dialed back his taunting tone.

'I seem to remember that advantage serving you well in our hand-to-hand endeavors...' The girl quipped, liberal on the sarcasm.

'I seem to remember your enthusiasm to teach me taking a dive after the first time I pinned you!' Eren fired back.

'Eren, why do I get the feeling that you were the type of kid who poked dangerous animals with sticks for the fuck of it?'

'Never grew up around any, but I wouldn't call that an unfair assessment!'

Eren's finished his reply as he spied a different, more broad light ahead.

'Finally!' He thought.

Brighter and brighter, an opening grew more quickly than his eyes could adjust. Passing the threshold of the tunnel at a blistering pace, Eren found himself blinded as light suddenly engulfed him. As he adjusted to the startling contrast, what he saw took his breath away.

Eren had just entered the largest underground chamber he had ever seen. Although not perfectly round by any means, the diameter of the room averaged a kilometer or so to the naked eye with the ceiling looking to be 100 meters. Light blue water stretched to every direction as giant holes in the walls poured light inside to glisten against the ripples of the surface. Speckled throughout the waters were small fishing vessels, the occupants of some could be seen looking up at him as he glided past from above. Looking ahead, he could faintly make out Reiner and Berthold halfway across the line. The line itself spanned clear across the natural wonder, terminating near a large opening in the wall. Imposing stalactites lined the ceiling, some measuring ten meters in length. But something else demanded Eren's attention more so than all else. The focal point took center stage of the chamber; cascading down from the ceiling, a waterfall flooded the vicinity with dark blue light as it refracted through the water from the surface above.

'But, how?' Eren wondered as he took in the incredible sight. 'A body of water above this place… what if the whole thing collapses?'

Without warning, a strong pressure manifested around his waist.

"What the fu…"

The strange force shifted as he suddenly found himself staring into familiar, fierce blue eyes. Travelling along the parallel set of cables to Erens, Annie had swung over and wrapped her legs tightly around his waist. As her stare locked into his own, he wasn't entirely sure of her intentions, but he had always liked that about her.

"I think it's time we had a talk, yeah?" Her tone was stern, yet eerily polite… sarcastically polite. Her usual deadpan expression did her tone no favors.

"Uhhhh."

"Good, hang on a sec." The girl glanced back at their path for a split second before a plume of condensation erupted from her boost nozzle. The interlocked pair gradually slowed to a crawl along the cables. Upon finishing her maneuver, Annie picked up where she left off:

"Anyway, this whole 'fire a girl up and run away' thing isn't going to work. This relationship clearly needs some ground rules."

"Relationshi…?"

"Rule number one: It's cute when you take charge, but it's law when I do."

"Wha…?"

"Rule number two: No interrupting your girlfriend."

"Girlfrien…?"

"Rule number three: Finish what you start."

As the words rolled from Annie's mouth, Eren felt her hand slip behind his head and take firm hold of his hair. His mouth opened as he began to protest, but his intended words were flanked by soft lips. In an instant, Annie had made short work of any resistance Eren could muster. He wasn't sure, even at that point, quite how literally to take what she said. But, then again, he didn't really care.

* * *

"What's up with that goofy smile on your face?" Reiner called.

Eren continued up the beach with Annie in tow, joining the others.

"Not as goofy as your face when you took off on one line." Eren fired back.

"Yeah, old habits I guess…" Admitted Reiner, slightly red in the face.

Looking around, Eren noted several people walking around in various directions around them. It brought him a sense of comfort to finally find himself among a population of people. As the group began to walk toward the opening in the wall, Eren took one last look at the odd beauty of the chamber behind them.

"How big is the lake above?" Eren asked

It was Berthold who spoke to answer:

"Lake? Oh, no, it's a river directly above that waterfall. The water flows from a reservoir up on the mountains ahead of us. That hole actually isn't natural; before we formed it, the water just flowed into the ocean. Now, even if the reservoir dries out, we still have a source of fresh water and fish down here. Plus, it's another means to keep us from the surface."

"Wow, everything is so… purposeful here. It's impressive, really." Eren remarked. "Just how big is this island, and what's wrong with the surface?"

"It's really fortunate that our parents and grandparents found it. It's a few kilometers wide and around twenty long. It's nowhere near as expansive as the area within wall Maria, but there are far fewer of us; around 20,000… at least at the time we left. As for the surface, it's reserved for farmland and other endeavors that require the sunlight or vertical space. Everyone can come up there as they please, but anyone without the need to live up there beds here underground. The less of us up there, the less likely titans or imps are to find us." Berthold answered.

"I see."

As they entered the large opening, an upward sloped tunnel lied ahead. Strung along the ceiling, several zip lines offered citizens a quick route to the underground lake. As people passed them, headed down, Eren couldn't help but marvel at how similarly the shifters dressed compared to humans within the walls. A chuckle escaped the boy's lips, inviting Annie's attention.

"What?"

"Oh, it's just interesting… aside from the environment, you'd never know this isn't a city of regular humans at first glance."

"We're more human than you think, Eren. Just like everyone within your walls, we're just trying to survive. Yeah, we have certain advantages, but humanity isn't exclusive to humans." Annie said, irritated.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that at all."

Eren studied the girl walking at his side, was it him or something else putting her on edge?

"This is it! Can you believe this?" Reiner hollered as he slapped Berthold across the back playfully.

Berthold cracked a smile as he replied: "Yeah, surreal, isn't it?"

"I hope the council doesn't keep us all night, I could really go for some of your mother's cooking!"

"I just hope they recognize us… five years…" Berthold trailed off as Reiner periodically hopped with excitement.

For fear of crossing lines, Eren sought a discreet method of asking his question:

'Reiner's parents?'

'Both died when he was seven; imp encounter, they were among a scout party of six shifters that was wiped out. Berthold's family took him in afterward, it's why they have a sibling-like bond.'

'Oh… I'm glad I asked you instead.'

Annie offered no response, but from the corner of his eye, Eren noticed her nod her head slightly. After several hundred meters of uphill travel, they group could see the end of the tunnel. Once again, relative to the tunnel, the light was blinding. Seconds after exiting the passage, Eren needed a few moments to process what stood before him. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen in his life.

* * *

A/N: Woo! Over 30,000 words, this feels more legit every time I add to it! This is it for this weekend, next chapter should be next Saturday or Sunday. Although, I still plan on refining this and the last chapter over the week. Oh! I don't believe I've mentioned it, but I reworked chapter 1 a bit. Biggest change is at the end, nothing major, just foreshadowing ;)

Also, I wasn't really sure how far I should go with the intimacy, I'd love some feedback about that in particular. Feel free to review or PM me about it, I'm genuinely curious what the readers want here.


	16. 16 Arrah: Part 4

"You guys didn't want to zip down?" Eren asked.

"No," Reiner said as he looked around. "I need to take it all in… take my time."

Eren wasn't sure what Reiner meant, given he had grown up there. But he could appreciate the opportunity to process such an odd place. Larger in scale than the previous chamber, but filled with natural light. His search for how such radiance was possible underground led his gaze to an object between the center of the ceiling and the adjacent wall across from where the group had entered. Despite it's gargantuan size, Eren couldn't make out the fine details of something 200 meters above. But, it was definitely some sort of mirror and prism arrangement. More or less spherical in shape, the object dispersed visible beams of light in all horizontal directions.

At the end of each beam, Eren found a glass orb not unlike those observed already. Each orb shined bright enough to make direct observation difficult. As impressive as the system was, he couldn't help but wonder how so much light could be collected through a relatively small hole.

Shrugging it off for the time being, Eren brought his sights downward. The chamber itself seemed to be slightly larger than an outlier district on any of the walls. The ground was level at the city's core, but sloped gradually upward into the walls. There, many openings, passages, and balconies had been bored into the rock. It seemed no space was put to waste, not unlike the underground hideouts within the walls, but this was an entirely different paradigm of enginuity.

As the group walked along a less traveled alleyway, Eren couldn't help but admire the architecture. Everything was powerfully colorful, each building seemed to be constructed a different way from different materials.

"Every building is different from the last." He remarked.

"Yeah," Reiner began his reply. "We noticed how uniform everything is within the walls pretty quickly… Best I can guess is, since most shifters have a so much free time, pretty much anything is an artform here. Boredom hatches creativity.. that kind of thing."

Periodically, from the corner of his eye, Eren would notice quick shadows pass across a lightsource from above. It was something new to grow accustomed to, he found the travellers on the lines above somewhat unnerving. Another strange sight to behold were the large pipes running alongside structures in the various alleyways. Branching off into various directions and into buildings, the strange network was suspended overhead. As they walked, periodically sections could be heard giving off the tell-tale 'hiss' of leaking gas.

"What are all these for?" Eren asked, pointing to a cluster of pipes.

"It's our power source." Berthold began. "There's a natural chamber here that constantly gives off steam. We think it comes from far below ground, but we can't be sure since it's too hot to actually explore. So what we did was seal it and run pipes throughout the city as an energy source. To control it, water is pumped into the chamber; the more water we feed in, the more steam pressure is produced. Anyway, we use it for all sorts of things, indoors and out. It powers factory machines, useful tools in homes, and it even powers the fans that pull in fresh air from the surface."

"Oh…"

Eren more or less could grasp what he was being told, despite the overwhelming scale and scope of the concepts. It was as if he was thrown into a fiction novel, everything seemed so foreign and advanced.

"Recognize anyone yet?" Reiner asked.

"I keep seeing vaguely familiar faces… but I'm not 100 percent sure." responded Berthold.

"Yeah, this is strange. What about you, Annie?" Asked the broad shifter.

"No."

After a few minutes of silence, offset only by footfalls and conversations of passers by, Eren payed the girl a mental visit.

'You sure know how to kill a conversation, huh?'

'Oh?'

'Well, I mean, I didn't exactly fall for you for your vivid personality. But… I don't know, sorry I said anything.'

'You'd like me to change...'

'Well… no. I guess, now that I've seen some of the beauty you keep hidden away, it hurts to see you push people away. But I just spoke too soon, didn't think this one out. It's selfish of me to call you out on your personality in a moment of awkwardness. I'm sorry Annie.'

There was no response, further solidifying Erens embarrassment. But, before he could contemplate his lapse in judgement, he could feel fingers slip between his in his right hand.

'Wow… are you sure you're comfortable with this? I mean it, don't be someone you're not just because you think it will make me happy.' He thought to her, unsure of her motives.

'I know, and I'm grateful that you're considerate of me. The truth is that I don't really know what my 'personality' is. I've been the reclusive type for my mission for so long that it kind of consumed me. I don't really know who I am without that mask, but I'm working on it. And I can't say that you haven't been pretty instrumental in luring me out. Just be patient, that's all I ask, this won't be an overnight thing.'

'Oh… well, you've got me by your side, always. I'm proud of you.'

'Besides,' Annie continued, side-stepping Eren's response. 'I'm still pissed at fuck face over there.'

'I see.' He acknowledged. 'So what's your side to all that anyway? I was kind of out of it when he went off on you but I think I got the jist of it.'

'That's just it, he's absolutely right. I never even considered things that way until he said all that. I shouldn't be mad, but I am.'

'It sounds like a lot to process, just give it time. But eventually, it would probably behoove you to settle it with him...' Eren replied, doing his best not to sound preachy.

'Yeah...'

"There it is." Berthold spoke.

"I don't know about you, but I've got serious chills right now… Hey, love birds, welcome back to reality. We're here."

Startled, Eren locked eyes with the smart-ass shifter for a moment in shock.

"Yeah, we know when you're doing it. You're eyes get glassy and blank and you start walking like zombies. Not even Miss Personality can hide it… Anyway, get ready for to answer more questions than you ever have before."

Eren's embarrassment steadily gave way to intrigue as the group approached a flight of stairs. The steps led to what seemed to be the most expansive and tallest building in the city. Towering at twenty meters or so, the architecture itself was relatively simple compared to the surrounding homes and businesses. With very few windows, the group ascended toward a wall grey bricks which flanked a large double door. As they approached, Berthold reached for the handle and pulled the door open. One by one, the shifters crossed the threshold; Berthold, Reiner, Annie, and finally Eren. As he entered Eren took a deep breath and exhaled, both relieved and intrigued at the same time.

"Finally, answers."

* * *

A/N: Good God. Hardest chapter I've ever written, still not entirely satisfied. Hopefully things ease up with Arrah more or less built in my head. I shouldn't have put off conceptualizing it so long. But anyway, I haven't forgotten about Ymir, that's about all I can give away on that front. I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated, and that it's such a short chapter. I just opted to focus on Arrah (Pronounced 'Era' btw, if anyone cares) instead of sprinkling details throughout the plot. Back to the meat and potatoes from here, hopefully creative juices will flow once more. Critics: Give me hell on this one, I need it, I'll likely implement good suggestions.


	17. 17 Idle

**2 Months, 13 Days Later**

The impending morning light lent the burden of luminosity to the amber flicker of torches in the officer's cafeteria. Few Warriors occupied the room, in the corner sat Berthold and Reiner across from one another. For several minutes, the two young men ate peacefully as the fatigue of night slowly released their dreary eyes. Halfway through their meal, Berthold looked up and spoke:

"Wow, look who's up early."

Reiners eyes trained upward, briefly darting around before settling on the familiar shifter. Annie stood at the cook's window, placing her breakfast order.

"Oh, good. She's on time." Reiner remarked matter-of-factly.

"Huh? I thought her report time was eight for field duties."

"I assigned her a squad of trainees to push through the pipeline, she's taking command today."

Berthold raised an eyebrow, prompting Reiner's explanation.

"I think it's what she needs… take her mind off that boyfriend of hers. She's been colder than ever since her father took Eren to the mountain."

"I wonder what that's all about then. I mean, they're the ones who can speak with their thoughts… Do you think they…" Berthold found himself cut off as Reiner finished his meal and stood.

"One way to find out!" The broad shifter announced with a grin as he walked off.

"God damn it Reiner…"

"See you at the gate!"

* * *

None too thrilled about her reassignment, Annie had done her best to tear herself from her warm bed. As she walked the dark streets from her quarters to the officer's cafeteria, she peered up to the lighting system above. The distribution spheres glowed a dim white, not unlike the moon and stars the radiance was drawn from.

Snapping back to reality as she arrived, the blonde shifter pushed the entrance door open and approached the cook's window. She noticed her comrades off in the corner of the room as she entered, hoping she hadn't been noticed. As Annie found an empty table, her peripheral alerted her to Reiner's b-line in her direction.

'Fuck.'

"Damn! You didn't sleep at all huh?" Reiner spoke with half sincere concern as he took a seat across from the girl.

In lieu of words, Annie simply fired a fierce look of irritation in his direction.

Unfazed, the young commander continued, but with an uncharacteristic amount of tact:

"Hey, listen… I'm sorry if this is out of bounds, but I was wondering what kinds of things you've heard from Eren. I mean, I see the storms he's causing up there but that's all anyone sees."

"Do I look like I visit him?" Annie replied, growing ever more annoyed.

"What, did you two have a falling out or something? You're the only one who can communicate with him from down here…" Reiner asked, confusion mounting.

"I'm under orders to leave him alone, it's part of his training…"

"How long do you think he will be gone?" Reiner asked, concern in his tone.

"As long as it takes. Since when did you care so much about Eren Yeager?" Annie hissed.

"Well, he's kind of the last hope of Arrah…" Reiner fired back before releasing a heavy sigh. "But, if I can be honest for a minute…"

"Oh, this should be good." Interjected Annie, pushing a golden bang aside to reveal a heightened brow.

"Whenever he's around, you're different. I don't think I've ever seen you happy without him nearby. It's subtle, but it's there... I was never brave enough to try to lift your mask, but that motherfucker… he marched right up and tore it off. He was never the first to see that you hid yourself away, he definitely wasn't the first to care for you that way, but he was the first to have no fear of what he might find. Listen, Annie, all facades aside; I liked seeing what he did to you. Eren Yeager has my respect; not only does he have the world's biggest balls, but he also makes my comrade happy… even if she is too chicken shit to admit it."

Annie had no words. Nothing really surprised her about what he said, Reiner had always kept his observations to himself for the sake of playing ignorance in his own favor. What left her speechless was simply lacking a response for any of it.

"Anyway, I'll see you at the gate for the training exercise, sorry to bother you Annie." With that Reiner began to rise from his seat.

"Hey" Annie spoke roughly, slightly indicative of inward struggle for words.

Briefly pausing his movement, he reclaimed his seat upon seeing her troubled expression.

"I didn't mean to abandon you and Berthold. All I can really offer is the fact that I was in no state to support anyone. It was all I could do to keep myself in check. So for what it's worth; I'm sorry for what I said. And... I'm sorry for leaving you to shoulder the mission. You're right, you stepped up and did what was necessary. You really came through."

"I…" Caught off guard, Reiner cleared his throat and took a breath. "I can't imagine how hard it was for you to say that... I'm sorry for what I said too, I forget sometimes that deep down you're still just a person. Thanks Annie, really."

The female shifter simply waved her fork to him dismissively and continued eating. She had had enough feelings for one day. With a chuckle, the young commander of training took to his feet and left the building.

'Eren, hurry your ass up.'

* * *

Tension.

Far and above the most bountiful presence in the cavern, the four trainees could taste it in the air. Orange twilight flooded the Arrai entrance, cast from the sphere suspended within the chamber. The pool of water gently lapped the walls containing it, perpetuating echoes of the dancing liquid. All eyes were fixed on the new squad commander in front of them. Annie appeared bored as ever, neglecting even the decency of eye contact. Finally one of them whispered to another:

"What's up with the mute? She's not the new commander, is she? She looks our age..."

As the young man returned his face forward, he found himself staring directly into the fierce blue pearls. Standing at 180 centimeters, the brown haired boy towered over Annie, but her demeanor gave no ground. Without breaking her blank expression, Annie spoke:

"You" She began, pausing for effect. "You must be my rebel. I'm glad to know this early on."

"Um"

"You should start with your name, trainee." Annie's monotone, soft voice was somehow far more menacing than any shout the young man had ever heard.

"Sven Artz, Commander."

"Artz, why become a Warrior? What's in it for you?" Annie calmly asked.

"I need to honorably serve Arrah! Defend it!" The young man called out, echoes reverberating throughout the chamber.

"First of all; you're full of shit. I'll give you to the end of this exercise to give me your true reason. Secondly; the next time you raise your voice to me, there had better be an emergency."

"Uhhh… Yes, Commander."

Annie then took a step back and asserted her empty gaze upon the next trainee in line. A few centimeters taller than Annie herself, the young woman wore her golden hair completely pulled back into a neck-length ponytail. Intense hazel eyes studied her new commander, giving off intrigue with a touch of fear.

"Name?" Annie asked in quietude.

"Isolde Everhart, ma'am." The young woman replied hastily.

"Please, I am not a 'ma'am'. I am only a year or so your senior. Now, Everhart, why become a Warrior?"

"I want to prove to myself that I have what it takes to do this. I was given this body, it would be a waste not to find its limits." Everhart replied dutifully.

"See that, Artz? That's what an honest answer sounds like." Annie chided, noting the boy's contained anger.

Next up was another male around 170 centimeters, but stocky. The young man wore an unyielding, stoic expression. His reddish-brown hair was closely cut, borderline shaved altogether.

"You must be the resident badass…" Annie remarked.

Quickly meeting her vacuous stare, the broad boy immediately returned fire:

"With all due respect, Commander, I will claim no such title until I've done something to earn it." The shifter spoke sternly, yet conveyed no disrespectful intentions.

"I find your modesty compelling. What do they call you?" Annie asked.

"Konrad Hoch, Commander. I joined because I fall apart without discipline, I need the structure."

"Humble _and_ self-aware, well I'm sure I'll find out soon enough whether or not you're simply adept at reciting what others want to hear."

Annie took two more steps rearward and addressed the squad.

"My name is Squad Commander Annie Leonhardt, and I don't want to be here. I don't play well with others, I prefer dialog in minimal amounts, and I really don't care about any of you. That said, I take my duty seriously and it so happens that I'm responsible for each of you in these field trials. Make no mistake, there is real danger out there and your very life may very well depend on an instruction I give. If you choose to act alone in an emergency and disregard my orders, I will make no effort to help you further. To put it simply, if you act alone, you become alone. I am a useful ally in the field, you had better be sure of yourself if you think you'd be better off on your own out there. Now, moving on, lets review the map for…"

"Uhh.. Commander?" Sven interrupted, inviting Annie's sharp gaze once more.

"What."

"Well, it's just… You left out the fourth member over there. Didn't you want to learn her name before we take to the field?"

"Hey, Artz." The voice of the member in question sounded off from his right.

Sven peered over to find the dark-haired girl glaring at him. Her lips parted as she continued:

"You should go ahead and shut your dick-waxer. The Commander needs no assistance counting to four."

Stunned, Sven returned his wide eyes to Annie, who remained unfazed. Before the young man could open his mouth, she spoke.

"Thank you, Ymir. Now, let's continue, we don't have all day."

* * *

A/N: I know what many of you are thinking; "Awww shit, OCs, it's all down hill from here." To that I say: "Shhhhh, take my hand. Follow me to freedom, where it will all come together and make sense.

But for serious: This directions will be misleading so far, but the path I'm taking with this actually minimizes OCs that I'll have to introduce AND will make the next two chapters get your blood pumping. There is a shit ton of actions coming, folks. I will try to get it out to you guys as fast as possible, I'm very excited to read the reviews of these coming chapters. Thanks for reading and thanks to every reviewer, every time I get that notification email, it makes this worth it.


	18. 18 Genesis

As he looked over each of the four squads, Reiner made no attempt to appear rapt with what he saw. Like Annie, he met his assignment as Commander of Training with scant enthusiasm, despite being the youngest Warrior ever awarded the title. Nonetheless, he undertook his duties with no less intensity than he had ever put forth.

"Alright, listen up." His voice boomed outward before meeting the boundaries of the chamber, he paused as the echoes throughout dissipated.

"This will be your first exercise off the island, each squad is to act independently. Unless, of course, should legitimate contact be made. Otherwise, there is to be no teaming up with other squads. The object of the game here is to take out all other squads, the rules to which are simple. When your titan form is gassed and incapacitated, you become a burden on your team since they'll have to carry you. Some of you may be able to shift successively, but that is against the rules. When you're out, you're out. Finally, contact with another trainee's nape is strictly illegal. If I find out about anyone putting another trainee in danger like that, your ass will face a Criminal Quorum. Are there any questions?"

The young Commander's eyes darted around briefly as his query was met with no reaction beyond several utterances "No sir" and shaking heads.

"Alright, I trust that squad leads have disseminated your respective starting points. I'll be dispatching quads in random order from here to prevent an underwater clusterfuck. Be sure to spread out as you shift down there, the myths you hear of fused shifts are true… Squad Kirsch, move!"

With that, five shifters made their way to the dark water and dove in. Minute chatter began to fill the chamber as remaining Squad Commanders, with one exception, went through last minute planning with respective subordinates. Shortly thereafter, a surge of bubbles and green flashes disrupted the liquid gateway as the squad below shifted.

"Hey," Berthold greeted Reiner. "how'd it go this morning, you didn't piss her off, did you?"

"Squad Faust, out!" Reiner called, before turning his attention to his friend. "Better than you might have thought. She misses that crazy bastard but she'll live, they're not allowed to communicate while he's training."

"Oh… That doesn't really sound like Annie to me, following that kind of order." Berthold contemplated aloud.

"Well, you've got to remember that she learned to do it from her father in the first place. He'd probably know if she tried something funny like that." Reiner offered.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. So, do you think she's up to this? This platoon is one year into the pipeline and her first day is _their_ first field exercise. We know she's capable out there, but this much responsibility all at once?" The tall shifter asked, concern in his eyes.

"Squad Leonhardt, out!" A smirk spanned the broad shifter's face. "There's more to it than that, according to my predecessor; Artz, Everhart, and Hoch are the most promising of the bunch. Long story short, I didn't assign anyone to that squad by accident."

Berthold assumed an uncharacteristic glare. "Then why Ymir?"

"Isn't it obvious? She's the embodiment of uncertainty."

"That's not what I mean…" Berthold snapped.

Reiner's gaze hardened: "When are you going to understand? Her lack of remorse is irrelevant; it wasn't her fault. I miss him too, but you have to be rational here."

"She remembered it, Reiner!"

"This isn't the time or place, lock it up."

"It's like I talking to a stranger right now..." Berthold said as he slowly turned back to his trainees across the room.

"Squad Hoover! MOVE!"

* * *

Heavy steam permeated the winter air as the wind carried it Eastward. Fully exposed, the morning sun fell short on radiance. Given her rare, skinless form, Annie found herself the most heavily overcooled from the swim to shore in the freezing water. As her internal temperatures began their recovery, Annie took a moment to study her Squad's titan forms for the first time.

Nearest her was Konrad; while heavily muscled, he stood only eleven or twelve meters high. He sported a fully developed face, lips and all, and seemed to have recovered his core temperature more quickly than his squadmates. Most visibly notable were his completely black eyes, not unlike Ymir's. She had read the night prior in his file that he excelled at sprinting and had an unusually high strength/size ratio.

Standing taller than Hoch was Sven, closer to seventeen meters. Unique was his partial armor and sharp teeth and claws. Plating protected critical areas of his neck, torso, fists, shoulders, feet, and most importantly: his entire nape. Noted on his record was his prowess in the art of strategy.

Lastly was Isolde, whose titan form most closely resembled her by far. Equal in height to Annie's form, one could dress Everhart's titan in clothing and mistake it for human at an illusionary distance. Ability-wise, she was unremarkable, aside from a capacity for verbal communication. What made her especially valuable was her immunity to titan regard. The most accepted theory for it was a lack of the scent known to attract titans to humans and shifters alike.

Feeling her core temperature normalized, Annie took to her feet, ignoring Sven's extended hand. With a careful, yet quick glance up and down the beach, she made note of each direction the other squads had taken. Berthold opted against shifting for obvious reasons, giving away his group's direction with only four sets of tracks.

With general trajectories of competing squads noted, Annie signaled her squad to follow as she took point in the direction of their assigned starting point.

* * *

"Wha- What should we do?"

Palpable silence was repressed only by the faint breeze as it passed through symphonic leaves above. Annie paid no mind to Isolde's unwise outburst, instead pledging her full attention to the eyes trained back at her.

Sven stood his ground at her left, while Konrad and Isolde did the same to her right. Standing before them was scarce example indeed, a 25-meter titan. Wisely, Annie slowly rose her right hand as she gave the signal of commons. The purpose of which was to distinguish shifters from variants in the field. Almost unsure if she had done it wrong, Annie realized that it was the first time she had ever used. However, she found herself purged of such doubts as an inundation of sound graced all nearby ears.

In a fraction of a second, the immense, screaming challenger was airborne, and it was no shifter.

* * *

A/N: I hate writing these boring parts, but the good news is that shit is about be get powerfully real. Sorry for another short chapter, but it makes for better flow this way. I don't know for sure, but the next one will likely be the longest yet. Thank you for the reviews and thanks for reading!

Cyborg: Some of what you ask would be easier to answer in private messaging. I'm pretty much an open book for anyone who wants to spoil it for him or herself, but I don't want to broadcast it for everyone. I can't seem to PM you though, I think you have a guest account or something. If that can't be fixed, my email is jbr0002 at gmail.


	19. 19 Decay

**Credits: **

**PrimaMalum: Punctuation and several restructures of phrasing and descriptions**

**unblockabletree4: Plotline input for Chapter 20**

For a moment, time was fiction. Stupefied in awe, the trio of rookie shifters found themselves in a waning vessel of doubt. Lacking Ymir's vigilance, Sven failed to notice Annie's movement as a powerful kick sent waves through his extended body. Sailing outward from the group, the young shifter could only turn his head in time to observe Isolde and Konrad both receive punts of their own as Annie propelled herself upward. Prior to any opportunity for confusion to manifest, Sven could see exactly what transpired. Annie had knocked them from harms way whilst launching herself into head-on trajectory with the aggressor. Despite his rude encounter with the soil below, Sven's teal pools remained locked on the airborne giantess.

Talons of cerulean crystal took their form on her fingertips as she sailed towards her opponent. Before her converging assailant could process a response, vision waned as ocular matter yielded to solid claws. Wasting none of her momentum, her limbs bored through eye sockets and pierced the hard skull behind. With both feet planted on the titan's chest, she violently propelled herself from the beast's head, altering its vector to clear her as she flipped downward for a clean landing. Standing upright as the once dangerous attacker met the ground as a corpse, she found herself accosted with looks of astoundment. Rather than appreciate the silent applause, Annie simply tossed the nape aside and surveyed the environment for further threats.

Once again making ill use of her ability, Isolde proclaimed what everyone san's Ymir had thought.

"She… She tore it's fucking nape out through it's eye-hole!"

Met with glares abound, the humanesque titan placed a hand over her mouth apologetically. Having ignored the outburst, Annie signaled to continue course and took point once again.

To each squad member's relief, the remainder of the journey held no opposition. Forest gave way to a clearing of tall grass and weeds, all of which flanked what they had come for. Resting in the epicenter of the area was their squad's flag.

In accordance with the rules of the training exercise, a squad needed proof of their visit to the starting point. This was to start each squad clear of all others and oblivious to where they could be. The second benefit was the prevention of one squad simply stalking another upon release from Arrah and attacking from behind.

Any feelings of accomplishment met a quick fate as the squad collectively observed two titans emerge from the forest a few hundred meters away.

Upon assessing the 10- and a 14-meter, respectively, Annie began her plotted path. But, prior to her second step, a hand tapped her shoulder. Swinging her sights rearward in annoyance, she found Sven's yearning gaze. He needed no sign for his request and, after another visual sweep of the area, Annie signalled her approval.

No sooner than she had issued her permission, Sven, Konrad, and Isolde had assumed full sprints toward the approaching threats. Although neither young woman felt genuine interest in how the students would perform, curiosity and oversight kept Ymir and Annie focused on the unfolding situation.

The first to arrive was Konrad, who immediately begun a strange tactic. The strong shifter had careened to a halt as he met the 10-meter titan and placed his hand on its head, gripping it firmly. Receiving no response to his signal of commons, the shifter simply stood his ground as his victim flailed about in confusion. Neither Annie or Ymir quite knew what the end game was to such a strange move as they exchanged confused glances. As Annie prepared herself to intervene, Isolde delivered much-needed clarity. The gorgeous shifter simply walked behind Konrad's prey and delivered a fatal elbow to the neck. As the lifeless titan collapsed, Konrad and Isolde exchanged quick grins before turning their attention to their comrade as he intercepted the lagging 14-meter giant.

Rushing the beast at full sprint, Sven dropped into a slide across the Earth moments prior to convergence. Taking firm hold of the lurching predator's ankle, the titan's upper body tore through Sven's wake of dust on its collision course with terra firma. Putting his prey's inverse momentum to fine use, Sven pulled himself to a stop before he leapt atop the fallen threat, disappearing into the plume of debris. No sooner than his impact widened the field of jetsam, an ejected section of flesh executed a soaring flight path marked by a cerise trail of steaming vapor. Emerging slowly behind the airborne nape, Sven wore a slight, blood stained smile across his sharp teeth as he began his walk back to the group.

None too pleased with her squad's exhibitionistic shenanigans, Annie, nonetheless, took brief respite in knowing her green squad members were somewhat competent fighters. However, her reassurance waned as she spotted three more enemies: a five-, seven-, and 15-meter, respectively. While the smaller examples approached her dispatched subordinates, the main threat had appeared closer to herself and Ymir. Leaving the small game to the others, Annie began her approach. Leaping ahead, however, Ymir had taken upon herself to neutralize the approaching foe. Having never bore witness to Ymir's capability, Annie spectated in mild curiosity.

All four limbs propelled Ymir viciously across the divide before the mysterious shifter vaulted into course for the beast's head. With stern impact, the hostile titan reeled as she thrusted both feet into the its chest. As energy from the initial impact dissipated, Ymir seized two handfuls of the titan's shoulder-length hair as her legs thrust her away from the unfortunate being. Through uneven force applied through her limbs, the shifter twisted around as she swung over her opponent to face its back for her second impact. Upon collision, the titan was hurled off balance entirely, bringing the pair to the ground. With surgical precision, Ymir flayed open the skin of the nape and peered inside. Following an inspection beneath the peeled hide, razor sharp talons tore away the exposed nerve cluster.

Reasonably satisfied, Annie's sentinel gaze shifted back to her rookie trainees, the three of whom had left two more smoldering piles of ash in their wake. As the squad made course to regroup at the flag, evermore threats emerged from the point through which they had entered the clearing.

What began as three became six as the shifters rallied around the billowing gonfalon. Within the seconds Annie spent tying the banner to her arm, five more aggressors manifested from the forest. Something was wrong…

In the absence of time to investigate the unprecedented titan concentration, Annie signaled her trainees to follow as she led a retreat toward the other squads' probable direction. Despite all likelihood of victory, the green members of her squad couldn't be trusted under pressure just yet. Further cementing her decision, at least 20 titans in pursuit awaited her perception as she checked behind once more before the squad crossed the threshold into dense forest.

* * *

Nearly obstructing the other end of the clearing from view, smoke occupied the air like a morning fog. In the absence of movement, mounds of burning ash and bones lined the path ahead of Squad Leonhardt. Signing to her trainees to remain vigilant, Annie slowly led them into the vacant commencement point.

One after another, Annie inspected each set of remains as they travelled past. The signs the veteran shifter searched for would be minute, if at all present. There was no way to distinguish a discarded titan form from a deceased titan. The only thing the squad could do was search for body parts amidst the devastation.

The greatest indication of what they feared came not from discarded remains. Instead, Annie pointed toward the flag of Squad Faust, undisturbed in it's perch. Once gathered near the banner, Annie took a moment to thoroughly inspect their surroundings. Finding no threats in the clearing, it was an opportune window for a huddle.

Annie brought her titan form into a bow, resting its forehead on the ground below. As each squad member followed suit, positioning their respective shells in a circle, they gradually emerged from searing envelopes of flesh. After a second pan across the surroundings, Annie prepared to speak, but it was Isolde's voice that broke first:

"What the hell is going on?!"

"Isn't it obvious? The same thing happened to them, but they decided to hold their ground…" Sven spoke coldly, almost disgusted.

"You're not saying…" Isolde's eyes dropped focus, resting on no particular target.

"They're dead. If they survived, the flag would be gone." Sven declared confidently.

"Are you sure about that, Artz?" Annie's soft, yet stern voice garnered the group's instant collective attention.

"Well, why would they leave it here if they fought all the titans off?" Sven demanded, failing to restrain his tone.

Annie, however, ignored the trainee's disrespectful loss of bearing:

"There are many potential reasons why that flag is untouched. It could be a trap, they could be waiting to ambush us and collect it afterward. Or they could have abandoned the exercise in lieu of insurmountable circumstances. Or you might also be correct… My point is that nobody knows for sure right now. I don't know anything about Isaac Faust, let alone what the man can do with a squad. But, there is an overarching question that each of you should be concerned about, above all else. Does anyone sans Ymir and myself know what that is?"

As Isolde and Sven shared looks of frantic concentration, Konrad spoke:

"Titans attacking us in record numbers at our starting point was an unfortunate stroke of bad luck. However, the same thing happening to Squad Faust at _their_ starting point is not coincidental. This was an organized offensive. I don't know much about Reiner Braun, but rumors circulate about him successfully leading the most ambitious special operation in Arrai history when he was 12 years old. Nobody knows much about the operation itself, but if any of that is true, perhaps he is setting a higher standard for the training than his predecessor…"

"I'm sorry to inform you all that Reiner wouldn't dream of such recklessness. I'm sure I don't need to elaborate on the remaining possibility on the table."

Annie payed no mind as her unhardened trainees grew pale in color:

"This brings us to a decision. Protocol dictates that we return to Arrah in this type of situation. However, I don't want to follow protocol, I want to investigate this further and possibly lend help to any remaining squads we find in the process. The problem is that I'm responsible for all of you, and that means I have no right to endanger your lives if you're not a willing participant. I am a Training Squad Commander, not a Field Commander. Thus, we will vote on this, and it must be unanimous to proceed. You all have ten seconds to decide: Risk your lives to potentially save your comrades, or play by the rules and go home?

* * *

A/N: Great things happening on several fronts! For one thing, I've made friends with **PrimaMalum**, author of **Shingeki No Kyojin: Dissonance! **If you haven't read that story yet then get on that shit! It's carefully written and it's one of the greatest Erin X Annie fanfics on here in my opinion. This guy has an incredibly vast plotline planned out and has been working on his story for over a year, if you like expansive lore, that is the story to be following.

Anyway, he hasn't had time to read this entire story yet, but he has contributed some verbal magic to this chapter. Very meticulous with punctuation and phrasing, he has also offered very sound advice for Chapter 1 which I will implement when time allows.

I'd also like to thank unblockabletree4 for taking the time to offer his advice for upcoming events. He is a star reviewer on here, always offering constructive thoughts. One of two people I trust enough to know what is coming in the next chapter.

I hope you guys like this one, it was painful to write. I thrive in dialogue (compared to my descriptions) and it really makes it difficult since most titans can't speak and Eren can't be mentally reached currently. So hopefully I still put together a compelling chapter, let me know what you think guys!


	20. 20 Onset

"I'm in."

"Yeah, me too."

"Same here!"

"I'm in too."

Annie took a moment as she locked eyes with each trainee, one by one. Her cold gaze left only speculation as to what occupied her thoughts.

"Alright, first off: Everhart, shut the fuck up. I don't want to hear that shell of yours say a word unless it's going to save a life." Annie scolded.

"S-sorry Comman…"

"Next, Artz: You forgot something when you made your first kill today. If you neglect the Signal of Commons again, I will pull your scrotum through your ass."

There was no answer, the young man only returned her gaze as his lips fell agape.

"Alright, this will be a true test for you all. I can see everyone here is competent, but with that said, the showboating ends now. Hoch and Everhart: Your teamwork is commendable but lacks efficiency, work that out. Artz, the opposite goes for you, you need to be aware of your squadmates in case they need you. I realize that you're all used to having something to prove, feeling the need to stand out. Welcome to the real battlefield, nobody cares how good you look out here. The only thing that matters now is surviving, and to do that, you need to look out for one another and take no unnecessary risks. Forget about making the cut, this is now a search and rescue. Now, everyone but Ymir, close up and wait over there by the treeline. Move out."

Despite the confused looks they wore, the selected trainees quelled their urge to ask their mutual question. Descending into the depths of flesh and steam, Sven, Isolde, and Konrad's titan forms burned to life again. Before long, Annie and Ymir were alone, eyes locked steadily onto one another.

"What's your game?"

"No game."

"I need you to spare me, whatever you told the council won't work here. I don't plan on ruining this for you, but I need to know what to expect from you."

"You give me too much credit, Annie" Ymir's eyes gave off unusual signals, uncharacteristic even. Defeat?

"I don't have time for your shit, Ymir. I…"

"Look! I don't have a way to prove anything to you! And, I'm not oblivious to the fact that I made the bed that I'm in. I have no cards left to play, I gambled and lost! Now, I've been given a chance to prove that I belong somewhere and I've taken it. The only thing you need to know is that I'm only leaving Arrah if I can bring Historia back. Otherwise, this is my home now and I will help protect it."

"Historia?" Annie inquired vaguely intrigued.

"Krista… Long story." Ymir replied with a sigh.

"Huh… Alright, I guess we'll see how good your word is. All I ask of you is to look after the girl, she's both stupid and valuable."

"You know, you and I have more in common than you think." Ymir half teased, a marked return to her familiar demeanor.

"It's how I know you're full of shit." Annie quipped as she drew herself back into her burning shell.

* * *

Silence.

Squad Leonhart heeded Annie's signal and crouched low as they awaited her next order. The trainees couldn't help but marvel at her prowess in stealth movement, her presence would nullify if any of them were stupid enough to look away.

Peering from a thicket, the female titan could see no movement amongst the burning remains of fallen titans in the glade ahead. Moments came and passed as the veteran shifter watched and waited, but naught beyond tall grass in the occasional gust caught her sharp eye.

Giving in, Annie motioned for her squad to follow as she proceeded into the smoke-ridden clearing. Deja vu was a powerfully mutual sentiment amongst the trainees as they passed one scalding corpse after another. Collective hearts sank as the shifters took sight of the untouched flag ahead. Everyone gathered around it and surveyed the terrain around them, occasionally exchanging uncertain glances.

Movement.

Konrad, first to notice, took an offensive stance, prompting the others' attention as well. Slowly from the trees across from the point of entry, a 16-meter titan emerged. Missing an arm, steam billowed from the regenerating appendage as the beast limped toward the squad. It's lengthy sable hair flanked it's exposed teeth and obsidian eyes which remained hauntingly trained on the young shifters. As Konrad planted his right foot into the soil beneath to push off, a hand gripped his shoulder from behind. Annie…

The female titan lifted her free hand, pointing to the approaching titan's head. The rookie shifter peered deeper, noticing a figure atop the left shoulder, clutching the dark hair for support.

Berthold…

As the titan closed in, Annie was the first to go prone and partially emerge from her form. As the approaching ally crouched to do the same, Berthold swung from the lock of hair onto the female titan's head. It was then that the boy's missing left leg became apparent. As the others gathered and emerged, the two veterans wasted no time:

"What happened?" Annie asked in a unsettlingly calm tone.

Berthold's eyes told a horrific tale on their own, but the young man spoke regardless:

"As we arrived at our commencement point, waves and waves of titans poured in. I guided the group the best that I could, but there never came an opportunity to flee. T-they never stood a chance… I couldn't do anything…" Berthold looked away in shame as he quelled his mounting tears. As his bearing returned he continued. "Urban barely got us out alive, we'd be gone if any more enemies showed up. We made our way here in time to see Uwe Kirsch fall to four remaining titans. We stayed put in the trees while we waited for his arm and my leg to heal. The titans headed south, and as few minutes later you guys arrived here… did you see any signs of Squad Faust?"

"We found their starting point, titan bodies everywhere… Nothing is confirmed one way or another, but it looks bad for them." Annie replied.

"This can't be real, how can this happen?" Isolde's voice pierced the ambience with fear. Petrified, the girl had begun to hyperventilate.

Konrad placed his titan's hand on the back of her own.

"Hey, we need to hang in there, alright? Just stick with me and we'll be back in Arrah tonight, safe and sound. I need you to take deep breaths, can you do that? Just br…"

"Hey, Hoch!" Ymir's interjection was as loud as it was abrasive. "Wasn't it you who pointed out the fact that this is an organized offensive? Have you not connected the dots from there?"

Ymir collected only looks of anger and confusion from the rookies.

"Holy shit, alright, I'll walk you through this. To organize something like this takes research, this exercise has been observed and studied, likely multiple times. They knew how it all works and they exploited it. Guess what that means, kids?! That's right, Arrah is compromised: They know where it is. It could very well be under attack as we sp..."

"Well thanks, Ymir." Annie interrupted, pearls of azure struck Ymir with palpable friction. "Who needs morale anyway, go ahead and tell them the sky is collapsing as well."

Ymir responded only with lifted hands and a half-apologetic chuckle. Annie turned her sharp attention to Berthold once more.

"Where's Reiner?"

"He had some things to take care of, he said he'd try to make it out before the exercise ended. It's just you and I in charge right now… Speaking of which, I'm thinking a retreat is our priority." Berthold suggested sternly.

"Agreed, we left a pack of titans when we escaped our ambush, I'm sure they'll make it this far eventually so we should move quickly. I suggest you hitch a ride with Isolde while you and your subordinate heal."

Berthold nodded before he addressed everyone: "Alright, Annie will be taking point. Follow her every directive and we should all be fine. A few of you haven't worked under me before, so listen up. My titan form is unique, it stands 60 meters tall. It is very slow and I've never been able to transform more than once every few days. If you see me shift, you all need to converge so that I can make the most of it and kill off approaching enemies. Secondly, Arrah is, indeed, compromised. However, we still operate under the assumption that the entrance remains unknown to the enemy. That means we _can not_ approach the island if another trap awaits us within sight of home. Is all of that clear?"

Annie was compelled to suppress her stupor at what she had just seen. Slight as it was, she saw signs of Berthold's former self as he spoke. Although she could never admit it, it was a side of the veteran shifter that she took comfort in.

With a plan laid out, the group of shifters sunk back into their vehicles of flesh and bone. As the combined squads began their retreat, none of them could see their well-hidden observers.

* * *

A/N: Another painful chapter to write, this is why I don't typically plan this far ahead in the story. I get too excited about the good parts and it makes chapters like this one difficult to buckle down and write. But hopefully it doesn't show too much here, please let me know where it comes up short and I'll likely fix it.

The next chapter may be a two-week wait instead of one, I really want to nail it. Stop ready now if you want to be completely surprised when you read it.

It will be an emotionally charged bloodbath. Thanks for reading :) Also, 40,000 words! WOO WOO!


	21. 21 Deficit

**A/N: So, I'm trying something different here. It's completely optional, but I think it can enhance the experience. If I get good feedback from this, I'll do it on the regular. Basically, there is music that puts me in the right frame of mind to write certain scenes, and maybe it will make reading them more enjoyable too!**

**If you care to try it, open up a new tab and pull up this song: Dark Rift - God is an Astronaut. I recommend hi-fi sound and actually downloading it, but not everyone goes crazy for sound quality like me. Anyway, when you see [Start Song], you know what to do :) For the sake of mood spoiling, you might not want to play it before getting to the right part.**

* * *

'_So this is how it goes… the culmination of my life.'_

* * *

Noon's sun cut rays down through the trees like luminous, dancing sabers as the shifters made their way through the forest. Several paces in front of the collective squad, Annie meandered through the maze of foliage in her vigilant search for threats.

Marching second in line was Konrad, ahead of Isolde and Berthold, with Sven at the rear. Falling short of Annie's masterfully quiet advancement, the rest of the squad, nonetheless, kept their movement commendably hushed.

While the green trainees fostered a grateful regard to the squad's lack of encounters thus far, the seasoned trio knew better…

* * *

'_Have I failed? What does this mean?'_

* * *

The air carried the telltale scent of the saltwater ahead, tree trunks and waving leaves gave way to clear light. Heeding her silent order, the group remained crouched and still as Annie made her approach. At the threshold, the female titan crouched and gazed outward in search of movement. Seconds became minutes as her thorough survey dragged on, but she had to be sure.

The squad behind made no moves, despite lofty anxieties. Finally, Commander Leonhardt rose to her feet. As she turned back to signal the others, something was wrong…

Without warning, her vision showed her nothing intelligible. Her eyes only gave her a blur of colored lines as they rushed from left to right. Her ears were overwhelmed as a tuning fork seemed to reverberate on either side of her head.

'When did this happen?' The girl wondered. 'How long has this been going on?'

Annie watched in stupor as the dazzling lines changed directions and began to shorten. It was at that moment, the pain registered…

Shifters could indeed feel pain through their titan forms, although it could be best described as attenuated. The person inside could feel everything but could easily ignore damage in the heat of need.

As the painful surge emanated from her face and left shoulder, the shifter began to regain her bearing as sand and tissue came to a stern reunion. In an instant, Annie was back. It was time to get up.

* * *

'_I wasn't finished, we aren't finished.'_

* * *

Plumes of sand scattered outward, the titaness stood low, stanced at the ready. Facing the forest, Annie was surprised to see nothing. No enemy… More alarmingly: No squad.

In the same moment it had dawned on her, from the rear, the blow made its contact with her head. As the world around her went black, Annie knew exactly what was happening. Somewhere, meters away, a massive head met the earth in solitude.

Pressure came from all angles, with it came pain and heat. What was happening? What could move so quickly? She hadn't caught so much as a glimpse of her attacker. Like bolts of lightning, questions of the sort permeated her consciousness as clusters of nerve began to tear away from her skin. Light made it's slow resurgence as it flooded her view, pearls of sapphire struggled to adjust to the onslaught.

As burning fingers encased her lower body, her eyes darted throughout her unfolding surroundings. Her captor was around the height of her own titan form, its menacing grin and vacant eyes blocked out more of the horizon with each passing second. But how? No standard titan could ever down an experienced veteran with such a level of surgical precision. But it wasn't a time when answers could offer any solutions...

Biting, clawing, screaming… It wasn't over, not to her. She fought to the limit of her strength, without so much as a pause for breath. As sharp teeth blocked the sun, the girl fought on. It was only as the massive incisors came down on her limbs did her behavior change. Flesh began to tear, bones snapped, and the smell of copper coalesced with the humid air. Mental clarity: For the first time in a while, her mind didn't race, thoughts fell silent. While most people would experience the opposite, such a level of excruciating pain was the only thing that put Annie Leonhardt's head at ease. The young woman could only limp as both legs and her right arm were stolen from her. As the powerful reality sank in, her body began its descent into a place she never saw herself ending up. The girl took in the last view of the outside world, but something stood out. A figure, a titan…

'Him… Why...'

Light waned as the world she knew was pulled away. But even as fate beckoned, the seasoned shifter's thoughts made their return, and with them came her sense of duty.

'Eren.'

Breathing was becoming difficult, the titan's esophagus grew tight as she was forced down. Annie did her best to focus as her own leg was pushed above her head as she sank. In the absence of reply, the girl continued.

'Listen, this is important. On a training exercise outside Arrah, an organized attack was carried out on all four squads involved. Hordes of titans were led to them and almost all were wiped out. Arrah is compromised, Eren. I don't know if anyone will make it back… That's why you need to warn the higher-ups. You need to tell my father, he will know what to do. And Eren… tell him I'm… Sorry.'

With still no response, all Annie could do was hope that he had heard her. She wanted to say more, she wanted to wake up, she wanted to hear his voice…

'So this is how it goes… the culmination of my life...'

Tighter and tighter, her lungs captured less air with each passing breath.

'Have I failed? What does this mean?'

_CRACK_

As Annie's ribs began to fracture, the pressure was too strong to draw another breath.

'I wasn't finished, we aren't finished!'

* * *

"Annie! Get up!"

"..."

"Pain isn't real, Get up!"

"It is real! _This, _is real! What's not real is my father!"

"So what then, you want to go play with the other kids? You want to go chase own idea of 'normal'?!"

"Why not!? We're safe now, we don't have to worry about _them._"

"Listen to me carefully, Annie. One year from now, I want you to remember what you just said. When you walk amongst the people in those walls, when you see how they believe those barriers are the permanent solution, when you see all their faces when that false security comes crashing down… I want you to remember that Arrah is just another barricaded city awaiting a breach. The difference being that when it happens here, it will _not_ be for _our_ own good."

"But why me?! Why are you putting everything on me?"

"Nobody wants their fate in your hands if you aren't up for it. Just say the word and you can put all this behind you. But first, answer this: Would you put your fate in the hands of strangers or would you rather trust yourself? Do you choose to die defenseless or do you, at the very least, give your killer hell? Whose terms will you die on, Annie, a stranger's, or your own? "

* * *

[Start Song]

Suddenly, constriction gave way to freefall. However, relief was short lived as the girl's body slammed into the liquid below. Eyes, face, but most of all, her open wounds burned as she struggled to elevate her head. Her lone arm proved almost useless, flailing about, occasionally splashing the surface above.

Finally, acclimating herself to her lack of limbs, Annie fought her way to the surface. Despite the pain in her ribs, each breath brought incredible relief. As the acidic fluid flowed from her face, her strong squint slowly released until her eyelids parted. But nothing awaited her reddened pearls, only complete darkness returned her stare. Faint tremors reverberated throughout the chamber as the host continued its aimless roam. Fortunately, the resultant waves weren't strong enough to destabilize the shifter.

'Can't shift... I've lost too much blood...'

The cold reality neither frightened or concerned Annie, it was never about her. She didn't care if she died for her own sake, it was something else...

With an alarming quickness, Annie's arm was tiring. Her mind returned to Eren, but she found only resentment in her heart. The struggling shifter couldn't help but wonder how differently things would be had she never nurtured feelings for him. If she never felt anything for Eren, the bastard would never have dug up her emotions. Had her emotions been left buried she wouldn't have been… Afraid. Afraid to trust in her comrades to complete her mission, afraid of the acid as it covered her airways, but, most of all, Annie Leonhardt was afraid to die.

As the liquid enveloped the girl, she could only think of one place to go…

Annie could almost feel the winter breeze as it passed over her. Despite her successful return, she hadn't yet been allowed to return to her home. She felt as if something new was missing each time she projected it in her mind. Everything before her was plentifully familiar, but a haze loomed from all sides.

But, authenticity wasn't why she had come. Annie stared back at the tall figure before her; _there_ stood the sole reason for her very essence.

"All those people I killed… What will it mean? I can't finish what I started, I won't be around to make sure they didn't die for nothing. How do I know that we succeed in the end if I can't see it… If I can't be part of it?"

"But you are part of it. You'll always be part of it, even after you're gone."

"But I've failed."

"Annie, listen to me. Everyone who has ever drawn their breath from the skies. Everyone who will ever come to be and do the same… We all die. How can death mean failure if it happens to us all?"

"Father, I chose wrong. I should have died as your daughter. I should have chosen to die happy."

As her final breath began to deplete, a warmth surrounded her. The man in front of her drew her into his embrace for the second time in her entire life.

"Annie. It's never too late to die happy. You've made me so proud, you've done so much for the world, even if nobody can see it yet. You will always be my daughter, you will die my daughter."

Speechless, Annies tears permeated the clothing her face pressed against. There was no despondency, the girl only wore a desperate smile as a loaded chuckle passed her lips.

* * *

A/N I'm sorry for the wait, it's been a truly difficult chapter to write. I write from the heart and I just haven't been all that depressed lately, chapters like this one are more genuine, in my opinion, when I can put myself in a sad mood while I write. I don't really feel like I nailed it like I might be capable of, but I'm also not sure how long that would have taken. I hope you guys enjoy it!


	22. 22 Coalescence

Attention: Tarantino pacing ahead.

* * *

A wrenching sound of tearing flesh brought with it a sudden flood of light. The stark burst of foreign ambience seemed to banish the burning acid, sending it rushing from the would-be tomb.

But by far the most prevalent in the occupation was the hand which had taken point. Feeling its way to the half-conscious shifter, Annie had only ascertained the situation as she felt herself gently embraced for extraction.

But, the girl felt a genuine conflict toward her own survival. Grateful as she was, the young Commander couldn't help but feel denied a peaceful death; in a world so miserly with such profound blessings. What were the odds that her subsequent brush with death would come with such closure? Sure, the exchange with her father was only a wishful figment, manifested. But, she would have died believing it was real, what more could she wish for?

But her doubts gave way to respite as her eyes adjusted, newly keen to observe her savior. Blue pools met green as Annie was liberated from the giant corpse.

* * *

"Holy mother fuck! Why did Commander Reiner do that?! What do we do?!" Isolde screamed, borderline hysterical.

"Lock it up Everhart, we need to make this quick." Barked Berthold, unflinching.

Having fled the scene upon Annie's defeat, Berthold and the trainees managed to avoid her attackers and form a huddle several kilometers inland.

"It doesn't matter who, or why, right now, the most important goal is survival. We've left far too many tracks to grow complacent, I need you all to listen to me carefully. Clearly the enemy knows where Arrah is, but they don't necessarily know the whereabouts of the entrance. We will stay this far inland and head north, parallel to the coast. There is a valley up there where we can get to the water in relative cover. Who's the fastest swimmer?"

Amongst the trainees, all eyes struck Isolde, who suddenly found herself less than proud of her skill set.

"Shit…"

"Deep breaths, you'll be fine. Now, Everhart aside, we'll all need to discard our shells before heading back East to the shores. It's better to spew smoke in the trees than near the open ocean. There is an obvious tradeoff but you'd all be wise to forget the word 'ideal' altogether. I hope I've been clear because there is no time for questions. Everybody seal up and follow Urban and I."

Quickly, the band of shifters re-immersed and stood, but there were no steps gained. Collectively, the group stood in a stupor, there was no movement, no words. All eyes committed, a singular focus rested on what stood before them.

Several meters away, the imp stood, stoic, unblinking. Standing a solid 25 meters, also prominent was the beast's stout physique. But, its dark gaze dug into the group, focusing entirely on one…

Berthold, wasting no time, drew a heavy breath to call out his order. But his leadership proved useless as Sven and Konrad lunged forward.

"NO!" The acting Commander screamed in vain.

Within the several strides spent approaching their target, both trainees had intersected courses, likely in attempt at confusion. At the end of their vectors, Sven and Konrad both dropped to a slide as they grabbed the imp's left and right shins, respectively.

Seemingly on cue, Isolde began her sprint toward the action. But, one step was the extent of her movement as a powerful blow made contact with her chest. Stopped cold via Ymir's quick countermeasure, the trainee's eyes grew wide.

Neither Konrad or Sven had built enough momentum to budge the massive being's planted limbs. Both young shifters came to an abrupt stop as the creature bent down. With its gaze upon Isolde unbroken, the imp swiftly took hold of both napes below. In but a single motion, the young men were violently torn from their shells. Before either could scream in protest, they were both rammed headfirst into one another before being flung to the ground below.

"NOOOOO!" Isolde's powerful scream severed leaves from every tree in sight, it was as if the flora had given its condolences.

As Ymir wrestled with the girl's taller form, Urban, realizing his Commander's growing vulnerability, reached for him.

"No" Berthold called into Urban's ear. "I need you to get me in it's mouth, I'll kill it if I transform in there… You'll be at a huge risk, but you'll definitely die if you try anything else. Make no mistake, Ymir and the girl will flee the first chance they get, it's her mission to protect that particular trainee. It's just you and me now. When it attacks, do whatever you can to get it's mouth open and get me in there. I don't have to tell you what happens it bites you with its canines…"

Urban nodded his form's head as lowered his stance in preparation, seemingly in response the imp planted its right foot rearward.

"Steady." Berthold called.

The beast drew a quick breath before launching its sprint, Urban began to ease forward.

"Not yet!" Warned the young Commander.

Picking up speed, the imp was closing fast, pushing all anxieties to their limits.

"Almost!" Berthold screamed, his speech propelling a mist of sweat from his lips.

It was only when their assailant began its final stride toward the group before Berthold pushed his vocal cords to their upmost limit.

"NOW!"

But Urban did not respond, as if the order never reached his ear. Berthold's confusion met an early fate as a pale blur flew across his line of sight, outpacing his struggling focus. With uncanny precision, the object struck the imp's head, sending it careening away from the group.

Berthold and the others watched in stupor as the object made a forceful reunion with the earth, a 15-meter, green eyed titan…

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

While Isolde and Urban retained significant anxieties, Ymir and Berthold shared a brief sigh of relief.

"It's alright," Berthold said to Urban, picking up on the trainee's uneasiness. "He's one of us, just be ready to help if he get's in a bind."

As if to purposely render the young Commander's words moot, the rogue titan launched itself at the recovering imp. The beast had only just stood up, looking up in time to see Eren's feet make a final approach to both eyes. As both limbs tore through soft eye matter, the imp made no attempt to maintain balance, thusly tumbling down. Eyes bright and wide, the rogue titan screamed, assuming a crouching stance. As imp's head met the ground, Eren's legs explosively propelled downward, breaking through the bones behind both eye sockets. Both feet made powerful contact with the rear of the skull, this brought a forceful surge of displaced grey matter from both eye sockets.

Berthold looked on in amazement, he couldn't believe the finesse and control Eren had evidently developed under Annie's father. He had found a way to combine skill with his anger like never before.

Moment's passed as the rogue titan took heavy breaths, seemingly to help calm down. Shortly after, Eren turned his green pools to the others and began to approach. In the absence of immediate threats, Isolde collapsed, grieving her fallen friends. But all other eyes remained fixed on Eren's shell as he kneeled and sat forward. Ymir and Urban quickly scanned the area before they did the same.

Three napes broke open, spewing steam as their respective shifters emerged. Ymir and Urban's eyesight had not yet adjusted when they heard Berthold's shocked outburst.

"Annie?! How…"

* * *

'You're late.'

Annie could barely hold her eyes open, her body had barely held on and the majority of her energy was being used to heal. Drained or not, her mind was healthy enough to despise being seen in such a state.

'Annie, stay with me alright?'

His voice alone did wonders to calm a few nerves, it felt like years since she had last heard him, in her head or otherwise…

'I'll be fine, but It'll take a solid day to grow everything back.'

'That doesn't matter, I need you to trust me…'

Slightly confused, Annie felt the need to remind Eren of his true priorities.

'Yeah, yeah, no shit. You need to go find the others, just… just hide me somewhere and go.'

The girl's consciousness began to wane, and with it her thought process and speech were beginning to show it. But the rogue titan paid no mind as he lifted Annie up and behind his head.

'Eren, are you listening? Stop fucking around and…'

The young Commander's words hit a wall as her eyes watched the titan's nape open with a fanfare of steam to reveal… nothing? But then where is he? No sooner than she could comprehend an empty titan form did she notice her own approach toward the cavity.

'How the hell?'

As she was gently lowered and placed inside, Annie could feel the burning tissue engulf her entirely. Familiar, yet strange sensations electrified her face and upper body as neural connections began to fuse with her skin. It wasn't exactly an unfamiliar feeling, it was as if she was rebinding to her own shell. But upon successful union, Annie was overtaken with a post mundane state.

Suddenly, everything changed. Every sense had instantly saturated with terrifyingly overwhelming stimuli. She could simultaneously see every color in existence. She heard every possible sound, smelled every possible odor, and tasted every possible flavor. Every nerve on her skin reported the most intense pain as well as the greatest pleasure.

A lifetime of interaction with the world had passed through Annie Leonhardt's brain in the blink of an eye. Before the poor girl could begin to contemplate the experience, she found herself face to face with the apex of it all. In that instant she felt her perception change about everything she knew. Suddenly she had no interest in what was happening, Annie was no longer concerned with 'how'. She was still herself to the core, but it was as if she had gained a lens in her mind that would show her everything from a different point of view. Be it a memory or present time, she could suddenly experience an alternate perception of anything and everything. And with those perceptions would come the natural emotional reactions; joy, warmth, fear… Anger… It was Eren. She could experience everything as Eren did, as Eren would…

A final flash of sensory overload began it's course, a different experience. This was by far the most beautiful and painful spell yet. For a moment, Annie was speechless. Tears streamed down her face, evaporating as they met the burning flesh below. In a second, the girl had inherited Eren's every memory, the two of them had formed a union like none other. In the blink of an eye, she knew him, she understood him, she _was_ him, she… _loved_ him.

'I… I understand now.' She finally said.

'I'm sorry to put you through all that… I wouldn't wish my memories on anyone.' Eren replied meekly.

'Stop.' She said, 'I don't think you truly understand the gift you just gave me.'

* * *

I finally buckled down and did it. I'm finding that I thrive on dialog, if I don't get to write enough of it then I have a hard time staying interested. But, these scenes are pretty important to the plot so... gotta do it.

Jeez, it's truly been a while. I hope people still read this, most of you probably don't remember a lot of the story by now. I'll try to pump more out from now on, powerfully sorry to everyone I've kept waiting.

I still haven't gotten around to smoothing out that last chapter, but I implore you to message me with any questions about the confusing parts. Also, I still haven't forgotten about the Hitch &amp; Annie parallel, I'm definitely going to start that as well. Anyway, I hope I haven't gotten too rusty, hit me or leave reviews with anything I may be slipping on! Cheers!


	23. 23 Limbo

A third-quarter moon ushered in only enough light to make out her surroundings as Annie stood, peering from the opening in the rock. The air was cold and dank, carrying with it a slight scent of mold. Carved out for discreet observation, the tunnel spanned nearly the entire border of the island with small holes carved every few hundred meters. Far too miniscule in purpose to warrant a tap into the island's lighting grid, anyone manning the watch tunnel made do with candles and lanterns. The only hint at Arrai technological prowess was the network of cables meant for immediate alert should there be any sightings. Pulling one would relay a signal to the Warrior manning the messenger post.

Despite her rank, Annie insisted upon carrying out shifts of watch after her debriefing. It was a chance at solitude for the first time in days. But after several hours, footsteps sent their echoes through the narrow chamber as someone approached. Figuring it to be a passing watchman, on his or her way to relieve a post down the line, Annie kept her sights on the thrashing, moonlit waters below.

"Hey."

Turning to meet the familiar voice, Annie greeted Berthold before resuming her vigilant search for threats outside.

"Hey."

"I… I know that it's silly to ask you, but I wanted to see if you're alright." Berthold spoke meekly, he wore on his sleeves an instant regret of his visit.

"Why is it silly?" Annie asked slinging a quick glance to her comrade.

"I don't know, I guess I don't want you to think that I'm implying any weakness on your part. You just, kind of, experienced something nobody else has done so… I think I'll just leave you alone, sorry to bother you Annie."

Berthold only managed to turn around before Annie called out:

"Stay awhile." Annie spoke softly but her sincerity managed the journey to the boy's ears. "I appreciate the thought."

"Yeah, of course. I mean, I'd normally not disturb you to ask, but you worried me out there. Do you remember all of what happened?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Annie replied, intrigued.

"It seemed like you weren't yourself, It was like you were a vessel for Eren or something. You had that look in your eye…" Berthold trailed off, scratching his head.

"A look in my eye?" Annie asked, intrigued.

"When I asked you what we should do if we came across another imp, you fired off a crazed look and said you'd kill them all. From those words to the thousand-yard-stare, it had 'Eren' written all over it... What did it feel like to be in someone elses titan form?" Berthold's voice trembled slightly, unsure if he was prepared for the answer.

Annie drew a solemn breath and paused a moment before turning to him.

"His form is stronger than mine, it lacks special abilities but it can take a beating. As for how it felt… It was strange. I suddenly understood him, we became one person. Pretty much everything I do serves a purpose, I kill the enemy because it's necessary… But when I saw that imp, a deranged anger washed over me. Suddenly I _wanted _to kill it, I craved the feeling of destroying something that ruined my life. I wanted revenge and I wanted to protect the people around me. It had a _meaning_ to me, it became my _purpose._"

"Do you still feel like that?" Berthold asked, the moonlight faintly outlined his raised brow.

"I feel like me again, but I remember being him is like. I still have some of his memories that stood out to me, but most of them vanished. I can't look at things from his point of view anymore but I have a much better idea of how he would react to different things." Annie turned her head back to her duty while her body still pointed to him.

"So that is what he's been training up there to do?"

"He's been in hell up there, trust me when I say that my father is pushing him to a new level. But he learned that trick by accident during a training exercise, I'm not even sure if it's something exclusive to the Coordinate."

As Annie finished her thoughts, the sound of footsteps once again began a gradual escalation.

"So you're saying we could learn to do it?" Berthold asked, containing his excitement with healthy skepticism.

The oncoming visitor then spoke:

"Yep, I taught Lutz how to do it this morning."

Eren's voice commanded immediate attention from both shifters. With a candle in grasp, the faint amber dance of light illuminated the boy enough to make out his features. His hair had grown a bit, it covered more of his face than usual, but several bruises and cuts were nonetheless immensely obvious.

"Eren…" Berthold stammered a bit. "Your training is finished?"

"Well, kind of. I guess in Arrah when an apprentice teaches his master something, it marks his ascension. I still feel like I have more to learn but Lutz insists on teaching as many people as possible how to ghost their titan forms. I guess it kind of changes things if an army of shells can be deployed without anyone having to leave Arr..."

Eren was interrupted as breath made a sudden departure from his lungs. The well placed kick brought the boy to the ground, gasping and panting. The three shifters

"What the fuck, Annie?" Objected Berthold, stepping forward but stopping well short of the girl's reach.

"Yeah, I'm with Berthold on this one!" Eren managed to say in between gasps.

Annie said nothing as she crossed her arms, looking down at Eren as he slowly rose to his feet and leaned against the cold, jagged wall. For a minutes on end, nobody said a word. Surprisingly, it was Berthold who broke the silence:

"Hey, Annie… I'll take over your post. You two obviously have things to discuss."

"I'm fine." Annie fired back, blue pools relentlessly trained on Eren.

"That wasn't a question, you're relieved." Berthold said with a laugh as he approached the opening.

With a sigh, Annie stormed away, heavy footfalls sending powerful echoes through the tunnel. Slowly lowering his guard as the girl departed, Eren turned to face Berthold.

"Hey Berthold." Eren spoke gravely.

"Hm?" The lanky shifter shot him a quick glance of acknowledgement.

"I'm sorry about your team, if I could have gotten there sooner, I…"

"Stop it Eren." Berthold cut him off, his tone was soft but stern. "They were my responsibility and I carry that burden alone. All you need to know is that you're the reason that five people survived today."

"Well, I know what it feels like… Plenty of dead people weigh on me, if you ever need to-"

"Eren." Berthold cut him off a second time. "I brought about the slaughter of thousands when I was twelve years old. I don't feel good about my failures today, but please don't patronize me."

While nothing Berthold said came as a shock to Eren, he was nonetheless startled to hear the mild-mannered shifter chide him like that. With brief hesitation, he turned and headed after Annie, issuing a retort over his shoulder:

"I didn't want to start a pissing contest, I was just trying to be a friend…"

Berthold looked in Eren's direction for a moment, his eyes watered as he spoke under his breath:

"I'm… sorry."

* * *

"Why don't you fucking talk to me!?" Shouted Eren, slamming the door to Annie's quarters behind himself.

Paying him no attention, she lit two lamps on a table in the center of the room. The floorplan had a true military feel, enough space to live but there was nothing unnecessary. A bed hugged the far wall from the door, flanked with a night stand. There was a door, most likely a washroom, on the left wall and a night stand against the right.

"Annie! I'm sorry for whatever I've done wrong. Hell, I'm sorry that I don't know what it is! But you're being petty right now…"

No matter how hard he tried, the girl refused to acknowledge his presence. Having followed her several kilometers to her home, begging for an explanation the entire way, the young man had grown fairly fatigued.

"Look, Annie. I've missed you… This goes against everything I want to do, but you're showing me right now that you don't want me around. It hurts. A lot. But, if you'll have a better night without me here…"

Annie came to a halt next to her bed, but faced the far wall.

"You remind me of my weaknesses." Her voice was barely audible, posture unflinching and stoic.

With one hand on the front door knob, Eren peered back to her, unsure what she meant or if he had even heard her correctly. His gaze took hold a moment longer before he spoke:

"What are you saying?" Despite his best effort, his anger broke through every word.

"You _are_ my weakness… I don't like it, Eren. I've been fine my whole life, and now, you show up and tear me away from everything comfortable. When you're around, I find myself willingly pointing out every chink in my armor to you. Why me, Eren? Why the hell did y-"

"Oh fuck off!" Eren's outburst sent a visible shock through Annie's body. "How special do you think you are?! Have you fooled yourself into thinking what you're feeling is singularly unique? It's part of giving a shit about someone else, welcome to humanity… or whatever the fuck it is we're called. Make no mistake, strength is _not_ avoiding your flaws and weaknesses. Strength is not turning your back on what you aren't proud of or don't understand about yourself. Look at you, you can't even look me in the fucking eye! You have incredible resolve and focus, you're the toughest fighter I have ever known, but you're not strong, Annie, there's a difference."

The young Coordinate drew a heavy breath to calm himself before he continued:

"If you really believe I do more harm than good in your life… I'll do my best to keep out of your way."

The girl whirled around, revealing the tears that soaked her face. But, the door had already latched shut, she was alone.

* * *

Hardly across the courtyard in front of Annie's building, a familiar voice called to him:

"Eren?! What brings you here?"

Eren's eyes darted upward to find Ymir sitting on a bench ahead, sitting opposite to her was a strangely familiar young woman. Altering course toward the two girls, Eren replied:

"I could ask you the same thing… I guess I never asked anyone what happened after you helped Reiner and Berthold escape the Legion."

Ymir belted out a genuine laugh. "Well, when you put it like that… They sent me here with another shifter while they stayed behind in the walls for some reason. It's a boring story, but basically I'm a 'probationary citizen'. But I'm serious, how did you end up here?"

"Uhhh," Eren stammered as he walked up, hardly finished processing Ymir's explanation. "I suppose I'm the reason Berthold and Reiner stayed behind, they brought me here shortly after the battle."

"Here! Take a seat!" Ymir slid to the middle of the bench, as Eren reluctantly did so, she continued:

"I don't get it, what did they tell you to tear you away from Mikasa and Armin? It's not like you can force the Coordinate to do something against his will…"

Ymir's companion, largely uninterested in the conversation up to that point, suddenly looked over to Eren.

"Him? You don't mean…"

"Yep! Don't let looks fool you, he's pretty much the biggest badass in Arrah. Not to mention it was his shell that Annie used to save our asses."

The blonde shifter blinked a few times in surprise, Eren briefly met her gaze to issue a half smile before looking back to the ground.

"Anyway," Ymir continued. "Seriously, how'd they get you here?"

"It was the best thing for everyone, they've taught me to use my gift and I promised I would help them before I return home. That, and my dad lives here, he left a trail of breadcrumbs from the moment he disappeared and this is where it lead. But I haven't even seen him yet, suffice it to say, I've still got more than a few questions about this place..."

* * *

Before you say it, I know, pacing is wonky right now. The Ymir scene feels unfinished because it isn't, rest assured the next chapter will pick it back up. Not much to say about this one otherwise, hope you guys enjoy. Sorry if you don't like the direction, I'm just following my feels.


	24. 24 Disquiet

A solemn moment ran a brief course, refracted moonlight lent to the darkening ambience. It was Ymir's companion who broke the silence:

"I should get some sleep, thanks Ymir… " With a half smile, the girl stood and made heading for the trainee dormitories.

"Yeah, remember what I told you!" Ymir called cheerfully.

Eren waited for the girl's departure from earshot before he spoke:

"What's your game?" His brows elevated slightly, genuine curiosity escorted the accusation.

Ymir met his gaze with a familiar smirk:

"I might know what you mean. But... I want to hear you say it."

"You're acting weird, what are you getting from her?" Eren's monotone reply came just short of indicating whether he was only half interested or simply tired.

The young woman muted a chuckle through her widening grin before her features reverted to her signature stare.

"Isn't it obvious? She's hot."

"I think you're better than this…" Said Eren with a sigh as he hunched farther forward, pressing forearms to knees.

"Ha!" Ymir shouted, sending echoes through the forest of surrounding structures. "Alright, this should be good. By all means, elaborate."

"I think you're trying to forget about someone." Her face changed as he spoke, but Eren's eyes remained trained on the dirt below. "I know you want to distract yourself, but that trainee is too traumatized, Ymir. She's vulnerable and you're taking advantage of that."

Neither shifter said a word for several minutes. Eren figured Ymir wouldn't take being called out very kindly and was prepared for an outburst of sorts, but it never came.

"So anyway!" Ymir began, eager to change the subject. "Couldn't help but notice you storming out of Annie's quarters…"

Eren glanced up at Ymir long enough to roll his eyes, triggering the girl's wicked smirk to widen.

"She's got cold feet about 'us', told me she doesn't like how vulnerable I make her feel. She said she was fine before I came into the picture so I'm giving her what she wants."

A short silence passed as Ymir stared blankly at the boy. He couldn't decipher between disbelief and disinterest.

"Exactly how are you so in tune with someone like me, yet you know jack shit about her?" Ymir's tone trumpeted her frustration, part of which gave way as she took a calming breath. "Alright Yeager, since you were kind enough to deliver my wakeup call, I'll return the favor."

Eren sat up and eyed the girl in both interest and skepticism.

"Oh, I can't wait to hear this."

"You need to realize that even Annie can be a little shell shocked. She literally got her ass handed to her and eaten yesterday. Then, probably while she grappled with her own mortality, she was ripped from it and thrown into someone else's titan form. I also highly doubt that she had much time to take all of that in before she had to save the others and lead the charge back home. Understand this: she doesn't know how to feel right now."

Eren slightly shrugged.

"I haven't been walking on sunshine with her father either… It was hellish actually."

"Yeah yeah, not the point. Listen, people don't have blueprints. Sure, we're all predictable and more or less easy to manipulate. But girls like Annie don't come with a manual, and she sure as hell won't always make sense in what she feels. You'll either figure it out or you won't. That's life."

With narrowed eyes and a slight wince, Eren looked over at the freckled shifter:

"You know, I didn't figure you were about to drop a pep talk on me, but I feel nonetheless like you're pretty damn bad at them."

The two shifters shared a chuckle before a brief silence overtook them. Eren hated it but Ymir was right. He didn't regret his own words, but he managed to derive some comfort in what Ymir had to say. A few minutes passed and she spoke first:

"When was the last time you saw Historia?"

With a slight grin, he replied:

"Shortly before I left, actually. She's grown on me… It's actually what our last conversation was about. She was a bit scatterbrained about her identity and I remember telling her that I prefer the way she is now."

"The way she is now?" Ymir sat up and forward without breaking eye contact.

"Well, I never really liked the way she pretended to be. Nobody is that nice. She seems like a real person now, with real demons... Like the rest of us."

"I never pinned you as the type to see through people, Yeager. Bravo."

He met her taunt dismissively as they both turned to face the sound of footsteps resonating in the courtyard. A larger framed figure approached them casually. Emerging from the main walkway, Reiner approached.

"Holy shit!" Ymir growled as she stood up. "They let you free?!"

The broad shifter stopped in his tracks, his expression surprised Eren. The Commander seemed genuinely hurt as he turned away and resumed his solemn pace.

"You live here too?" Eren asked, his sorry attempt to tread lightly.

Reiner slowed his gait, half turning his head to Eren:

"No… I need to see Annie. Do you know if she's in?"

"I think she's seen enough of you!" Ymir hissed.

Eren fanned a downward palm in her direction.

"Hey, Reiner. Listen. She really isn't ready for whatever you're bringing her way." Reiner stopped once more and faced Eren. "I'm sure you have a compelling argument if they let you go. But she needs more time. I didn't do you any favors earlier either…"

The broad shifter released a strong sigh.

"Eren, I need to fix this."

"I'm sure it's-" Eren held his speech as distant voices rang along the empty streets and alleyways. Several people, running and calling to one-another dramatically. As Eren and Ymir exchanged puzzled looks, there was an eruption of foot falls nearby. Eren turned to find the broad shifter sprinting past and around the nearest corner, and out of sight.

"What the hell is going on." Eren muttered as Ymir took chase. She called back to him:

"Come on asshole, I can't take him alone!"

* * *

Numb, Annie sat at the foot of her bed. An amber dance of candle light gave illusion to movement in an otherwise static room.

By any account, the girl was lost. Never had she encountered a need to truly contemplate her situation in such a profound manner. While her life had never been easy, it had only ever boiled down to simple choices; everything had structure.

Annie could barely resolve whether to be angry or upset. Eren wasn't wrong, but she nonetheless felt vexed with him.

Suddenly her spinning thoughts met the cold shock of a loud knock at the door. She slowly rose to her feet, instincts served well to clear her mind as she approached the entrance. Confusion took hold as she peered outside.

"Dr. Yeager? Dad?"

Both men wore grave expressions, Annie was neither surprised nor thrilled about her first encounter with her father in five years being evidently all business.

"Annie, I'm sorry to bother you this late but we have a situation." Grisha said.

"Oh." Said Annie as she pushed the door open and stepped aside.

The two gentlemen solemnly entered, Lutz closing the door behind them. Grisha continued:

"It's Reiner, he fled during questioning."

"So it really was him out there…" Annie muttered, almost to herself.

"Well, we're really not sure what to make of it. He went out of his way to not so much as injure the guards who were keeping him." Lutz said.

"That, and he has an alibi, he was tied up in command business all day. He was never really alone." Grisha added.

"Something is off then. I can see some people panicking at these kinds of accusations, but not him. If he was innocent, he would have submitted."

"Yeah, but there isn't a link to him aside from what you saw. This leaves us pretty well in the dark." Grisha replied.

"Well, now we know it's possible to control your titan remotely…" Annie suggested.

"The problem is, only Eren and I even knew that was possible when you were attacked." Lutz interposed.

"Are you sure?" Asked Annie.

* * *

A/N

Feels good to be back. I lost interest in this for a while but I've finally managed to get this back on track. Not sure when the next chapter will be but it will be sooner than you all had to wait for this one. I've got myself a lady who makes me want to write more, long live the muse!


	25. 25 Redux

Eren found himself struggling to focus his sights in what manifested as a tunnel of orange lights. Porch candles and spilled light from windows formed fiery streaks in his periphery. There was true mental challenge in balancing an all out sprint with making sense of the situation. His legs burned, yet maintained their blistering pace with no input.

'Why?' He thought, between heavy breaths. 'Why would he need to run?'

Slowly, Eren closed in and overtook Ymir, a trail of steam followed his head like a shadow. Seeing this, she sacrificed a vital breath:

"Get it under control! You can't use that here!" She screamed after him, losing speed in the process.

Eren heard nothing as flames erupted from his pools. He picked up speed, closing the gap Reiner had done his best to create. Ymir watched in awe as the two young men tumbled to a hault. She approached to find Reiner, back to the dirt, staring in horror up at Eren, who had mounted and leaned into the larger boy's arms with stern grip.

The fires calmly lapped at Eren's bangs, unwaning. Ymir studied him a moment, when did Eren Yeager learn such control? Everything she knew about coordinates of past seemed moot. All that she- All that anyone knew, up to that point, warned that eyes of fire meant certain death. And yet, before her eyes, the Suicidal Bastard, of all people, manipulated the world's most tragic gift into a tool.

"Why." Eren spoke calmly, but more sinister undertones were lightning bolts to Reiner's ears.

"I didn't…" Reiner whimpered quietly, his eyes watered but remained trained on Eren.

"Then why run." Twin flames flared menacingly as Eren slowly spoke the words.

"You wouldn't understand it, I don't know how to explain, Eren." Profound fear was laced with every drop of sweat and tears on his face as they reflected the bright, amber flurry mere inches away.

Ymir watched in horror as Eren's outpour of damning radiance intensified. A breeze picked up, an anomaly of sorts in a sealed city. Only then did she also notice the horrified residents of surrounding homes. Some led their families hastily away from the scene, while those who knew the futility of fleeing looked on gravely from a distance.

Eren, however, either failed to notice the scene he continually catalyzed, or merely didn't care.

"Humor me." His tone deepened, as if to illustrate his growing anger and instability.

Reiner sobbed and looked away as he replied:

"I-It was a normal day. Lots of meetings… Political shit. But on my way to the entrance chamber… My head felt like it would explode. Suddenly I remembered doing something terrible. It was like a nightmare but it happened in the blink of an eye. Eren, I did something horrific but I don't know how! I remember fighting and hurting Annie, but I don't know why. It made total sense while it happened but now I don't know what compelled my will to do it. I'm so sorry! I don't know what's going on and I have to find out! You have to let me figure this out!"

Reiner grew hysterical, the boy was overwhelmingly, genuinely, confused. But Eren remained unmoved:

"I want the truth!" Eren barked, flames climbed outward and above his head. The heat began to singe his shirt and burn the face of the young man below. The breeze grew to gusts, lifting dust and debris from the ground below.

Ymir's heart plunged to baffling depths.

'Oh God, he's not in control at all!'

"Eren, stop it!" She screamed damningly, sending several nearby townsfolk into panic, but her demand ricocheted from the coordinate's deaf ears like a bullet to iron.

"It is! I swear to you!" Reiner pleaded as he thrashed his head in pain, his burning skin reddened under the fervid heat.

With surgical exactitude, Eren took hold of his old friend's neck with violent compression. Yet again, the flames surged higher yet, he emitted a level of light unrivaled by even the city's distribution system at high noon. The gusts took to new strengths as well, carrying enough dust to render the scene an ambience not unlike a cloud of lightning. Eren's flames meandered under the wind's mercy, but not once faltered in their own presence.

"ARE YOU PREPARED TO DIE TO KEEP YOUR SECRETS?!"

Eren's scream was heard for kilometers as it reverberated throughout the chambered city. Only Ymir remained remotely near the event, struggling to keep her eyes open amidst the storm. A quick inner debate produced her decision to step in. Slowly, Ymir fought the brutal forces and pushed forward. Each step came as reward of it's own battle.

"EREN! DAMN YOU!" She shrieked, reaching for his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Reiner ceased his struggle as he met Eren's blinding gaze. The otherwise stout young man was powerless to speak. Instead, he offered his submission to fate. As his eyes displayed his waning state of consciousness, Reiner mouthed the words to which he clung most tightly in that moment:

"Tell Annie I'm sorry. She's not safe."

In all but an instant, what could only be described as a stunning vacuum of activity ran it's course. In the time span of a lightning bolt, each and every molecule of air returned to an idle state while Eren's twin blazes blinked from existence. Every grain of dust and suspended litter fell from the very air on which they rode.

Eren released Reiner's neck and stood, maintaining a careful eye on him for a moment before looking over to Ymir. The would-be suicidal bastard displayed a faint look of disappointment, shaking his head before returning sights to the shifter in question, who had sat up as he gasped for everything his lungs could hold.

Ymir looked around at the scene. Nothing seemed damaged sans a few shutters that had been blown about. Turning sights to the ground, she noticed a circular pattern of fallen debris radiating from the two boys. At the pattern's center, faint scorch marks formed an outline of Reiner's form. All the while she took in the surreal aftermath, Reiner continued to cough as steam rose from his burned countenance.

Finally, Ymir's consternation seated on Eren himself. Had he been at full discipline the entire time? It seemed as if he commanded his own weakness as a means to his agenda. Nevermind the irony of who could possess that level of self control. She was purely amazed that anyone at all could employ such powerful, deep seated, and, most of all, unpredictable emotion as a means to reach a serious and complex goal.

"Who _are_ you?" Ymir managed to finally say.

Eren's eyes narrowed a bit to match his disappointed frown as if to question which young man she was talking to. Before she could clarify, he spoke:

"I believe him." The tone of his announcement was flanked with both curtness and regret.

Ymir scowled a bit, beginning to snap out of her state of wonderment:

"Just like that?" She chided.

Reiner, having more or less caught his breath, replied in protest:

"'Just like that'? Where were _you_ in the last five minutes?!"

Ymir sighed, quelling the urge to fire back, she spoke only to Eren: "But what I mean is all I saw you do was rough him up, how does that prove him innocent? Did you get in his head or something."

Eren didn't take his eyes off Reiner save for an occasional glance to Ymir and the reforming crowd of locals several meters in each direction.

"I didn't have to… I don't think he's innocent, but I believe what he said."

"I don't follow…" Ymir was growing aggravated, Eren was speaking in riddles.

Eren retained a relaxed, yet stern, bearing as he spoke. Which only perplexed the girl further.

"You'll just have to trust me, it can't really be explained right now."

"Oh, yeah. Because that excuse worked so well when Reiner used it a minute ago…" Ymir fired back defiantly.

"I'm not laughing." Eren showed a hint of annoyance, which only served to comfort the girl. His armor wasn't without its chinks after all. "

"Well shit, out of the frying pan and into the fire…" Reiner half laughed, not yet bold enough to look up from the ground.

"Don't push this." Ymir growled, looking back to Eren. "I don't like to admit it, but you're not wrong."

* * *

"I suppose we can't rule out that possibility." Said Lutz, scratching his face in contemplation.

Annie could barely recognize the man in front of her. Sure, he looked more or less the same, but she was stricken with a different unfamiliarity. It was time, it had been so long since she had seen him last. The day she was to reunite with her father was one that she often played out in her mind. Yet, here they were, and she felt nothing. Deep seated memories and dark emotions were surely awakening all throughout her mind, but they hadn't yet arrived. It hadn't yet completely sunk in who she was talking to, and she dreaded the moment that it would.

"So you're saying Eren might not be the first to pioneer it?" Grisha asked, fear shallow in his eyes.

"Well, the more I think about it, the more it seems likely." Lutz replied.

"How so?" Annie asked, irritated at the very need to.

"Now that we know that any shifter can do it, it seems far fetched that only now has anyone tried it." Lutz thought aloud.

"Do you think anyone could have spied on you and Eren while you trained?" Asked Annie.

"That's not out of the question, but it couldn't have resulted this way. It takes a few days to master, I only did so two days ago… Although the timing is oddly coincidental. But I still doubt it, it takes many transformations to get it right. If someone were sly enough to observe Eren and I training the way we did, it would still be a stretch to believe they could do so _and_ regularly get far enough away to attempt it over and over without either of us seeing the lightning and smoke." Lutz spoke alongside his ponderance.

"Honestly, I'm more concerned with motive… Annie, try to remove Reiner altogether from the picture for a second. I want you to think only of why _anybody at all_ would see a need to do that to you."

Grisha spoke with genuine concern for her, a welcome contrast from the man to his left. Annie had never spoke directly to him but had always heard about his warm nature. She felt the need to remind herself just how cold he was capable of being. It was almost fascinating how different the two men in her quarters were despite both being capable of cold, calculating decisions.

"I can only put credence in it being a strategic move. The imps had whittled down most of the weaker shifters in the exercise already. I was on point scouting a clear area and it isolated me. Berthold has limited use in that situation so that left me as the biggest threat to any attacker. Whoever was out there either knew that or gambled on it, it had to be obvious to anyone observing that I was protecting the others." Annie spoke quickly, it was clearly having thought about it before.

"That seems most plausible. What I can't wrap my head around is the big picture: Why waste the element of surprise on a training expedition? I don't know whether to think the Imps were at the right place and time or if they have something bigger planned…" Grisha wondered, beginning to sweat.

"They were after Everhart." Said Annie, utterly confident.

Lutz perked up:

"The trainee with the speaking titan form? What makes you so sure?"

"The imp I took out with Eren's titan, it was ignoring everyone else and going straight for her. I don't know what they want _with _her, but they want her." Said Annie.

There came a short silence among the shifters as they thought about the situation. Suddenly, Lutz and Annie both visibly jumped to heightened states of attention. Father and daughter shared a concerned glance before bolting to the door, leaving Grisha baffled.

"What…" Grisha began before being interrupted:

"Eren caught Reiner." Called Annie over her shoulder as she ran into the night, Lutz close behind.

As she raced out of the courtyard, she saw light projecting up from the sea of homes and businesses ahead. Annie began her sprint through the maze of roads and alleys as she focused her mind.

'Eren. What the fuck are you doing?'

Traversing the void in her mind, she made her way to his. Annie found herself on a main road after a minute or so of running. What she saw half a kilometer away was the source of the light, an uncomfortably familiar sight. As she raced toward the scene, all the while, she had arrived at his mind's door. She was beginning to scare, why would he begin such a lethal attack here? Why for Reiner?

Eren wasn't the least bit focused on keeping Annie out, allowing her inside to see for herself what she approached. She found herself staring through his eyes at Reiner, pinned on the ground.

"Humor me" She felt him say. She wasn't sure the exact context, but Reiner spoke as if to fill her in:

"I-It was a normal day. Lots of meetings… Political shit. But on my way to the entrance chamber… My head felt like it would explode. Suddenly I remembered doing something terrible. It was like a nightmare but it happened in the blink of an eye. Eren, I did something horrific but I don't know how! I remember fighting and hurting Annie, but I don't know why. It made total sense while it happened but now I don't know what compelled my will to do it. I'm so sorry! I don't know what's going on and I have to find out! You have to let me figure this out!"

Annie wasn't sure what to make of the story. If it was true, what could cause someone to do such a thing without realizing it? Her thought was interrupted by Eren's reply:

"I want the truth."

She noticed the light ahead brighten and felt a slight breeze at her side as she ran. Her father called behind her:

"He'll kill us all! We've got to calm him _now!"_

Annie ignored Lutz as Reiner pleaded with Eren:

"It is! I swear to you!"

She watched as two hands gripped Reiner's neck and began to strangle the young man.

'Eren's lost it.' She thought as she watched the light brighten once more while breeze turned to wind. She was only half way, her father's longer strides had allowed him to inch slightly ahead of her.

"ARE YOU PREPARED TO DIE TO KEEP YOUR SECRETS?!" The words boomed in her head, hotly followed by their arrival to her ears. Annie could barely believe what she was hearing.

'Eren! We've been through this months ago! Get ahold of yourself!' She called to him as strongly as she could. To her surprise, Eren issued a response:

'Fuck Off'

Annie was more shocked at the delivery than the message. The words came to her in a strangely casual manner.

'Eren, something isn't right, he went out of his way not to harm anyone during his escape. I don't know what's going on, but we need him alive! You're going to kill half the population if you d…'

Annie held her speech as Reiner mouthed the words:

"Tell Annie I'm sorry. She's not safe."

Suddenly, Eren's mind had left her. Her heart sank as she realized the light of fire had disappeared as well. Had someone killed him?

Her full attention came to getting there, meters seemingly took minutes to cover. A crowd of people had gathered, spanning the width of the street, several deep. Lutz and Annie pushed their way through to find Ymir, Reiner, and Eren, all standing. Reiner's face gave off a bit of steam while both him and Eren's shirts were burned apart at the tops.

"What the hell just happened?" Lutz demanded angrily.

"Eren is fucking crazy, that's what happened." Ymir snapped back, unaware of who she was talking to. Lutz made no point to announce himself, but nonetheless came down on her.

"How about a real answer, smart ass." The man's eyes were daggers even to the seasoned shifter. Reluctantly, Ymir revised her summary:

"Basically, Eren just fooled Reiner, myself, and a herd of civilians into thinking he was about to kill us all."

Lutz's eyes narrowed as he looked to Eren once more.

"That true?"

Eren, unfazed by his master, stared straight back at him.

"The whole city is at stake based on what Reiner had to say. I'm prepared to scare everyone in Arrah half to death if it gets the truth out of him." Eren stood his ground in a profound absence of penitence.

Lutz slackened his stance and walked to Eren with a sigh, eying Reiner carefully.

"What's the verdict then?"

"He said he suddenly gained memory of it while he was in the city. Doesn't know why or how but it somehow happened." Eren spoke with supreme confidence to Lutz, causing Annie to clench her fists quietly as she watched the two interact.

"You believe it?"

"Yes." Eren replied without hesitation.

Lutz sighed again, keeping his gaze fixed on Reiner.

"Well that leaves us pretty well in the dark here, what you make of that?"

"If it was indeed his titan that attacked Annie, that means he can summon _and _use it remotely. And that means: even if he is kept locked away, there is a chance the same thing could happen again. We're better off keeping him involved in any operation involving titans. That way, he can shift in front of us all and at the very least we'll know where his titan _is._"

Lutz pondered a moment, finally speaking:

"Keep your enemies close… good. It's simple in theory but everyone involved will need to be aware of the risks, especially in situations of high danger. He can't have any opportunities to stab our backs. Annie and Eren, you are both now joined at the hip with Reiner. He never leaves your sight, you'll sleep in shifts there will always be an eye on him. And you," Lutz walked to Reiner, the men were equal in height. He stared deep into Reiner's eyes a moment before continuing. "I'm afraid you can't command my forces while you remain a threat to them. If you can clear your name, I suggest you get on that, you've been a fine commander, I want to see you at the helms again if at all possible."

* * *

I'm thinking I'm back. Thanks for the reviews, it's easy to lose sight of how rewarding this can be. Probably the easiest chapter I've written, stroke of creativity I suppose... Adderall helps too. Hope you all enjoy.


End file.
